Situational Awareness
by Real Teagy SOT
Summary: Alternate Universe with the UNSC replacing the Systems Alliance. Currently post-poned if not canceled.
1. Chapter 1 Introductions

**Disclaimer : I obviously do not own either halo or mass effect, this is just a fan fiction of my two favourite sci-fi games respectively. Also this is my first Fan Fiction( first story too) so I would prefer constructive criticism, other than that I hope you enjoy the story :)**

**Time line**

(Mass effect) 2153/(halo)2553 – End of the Human-Covenant war. The Sangheili departed after paying respects to the Humans at the memorial at Voi. They leave to their home planet Sanghelios to determine whether or not they they are endangered by the remaining Loyalist forces.

The Citadel Council begin sending Scout vessels to see if the Skyllian Verge is worth colonizing.

2154/2554 – The UNSC begins clean up operations of Earth and the Rebuilding of Its Orbital Defence Grid. Estimated 10 years till back up to Pre-Invasion Capability.

The scout vessels report back after finding a few systems with fairly average results, however the system with the newly found Relay 314 has a Prime garden planet for colonization. The law forbidding the activation of the relay stands as it goes into unknown territory.

2155/2555 – The Sangheili begin restructuring their society, after the truth about the covenant is revealed the remaining Sangheili civilian and military leaders form the Sangheili Federation and Gladly restore the mantle of the Arbiter due to his enormous role saving the Sangheili, giving Thel Vadum complete control over the Military, however to prevent corruption for future Arbiters, the Arbiter's orders can be overridden by the Sangheili Government if they feel he is acting wrongly.

The Council begin discussions on who has the rights to colonize the system of Relay 314. So far the discussion don't get far before the Batarians demand to have the system due to their claims to the entire Skyllian Verge, the discussions are postponed until the council can come to a decision.

2157/2557 – The UNSC has discovered that most of the Inner Colonies and a quarter of the outer colonies are left untouched and The UNSC begins to speed up its rebuilding efforts due to the vast amounts of resources now available thanks to this. UEG does a survey and discovers that roughly 417 colonies survived the war and the rest were decimated. Insurrection forces are found to be decimated, slaughtered by the covenant. The UNSC asserts control over the colonies but puts better systems in place to help prevent future Insurrection and provide better freedoms and life to the Colonies. The UNSC have also begun a genetic modification program for all entries into the UNSC, these modifications include faster reflexes by roughly 10%, increased strength 15% but it takes roughly 12 months to take full effect. ONI begins Development of Spartan IV Program, they will be almost exact replica's of the Spartan II program but all are adult volunteers, it takes up to 3 months after augmentation for the Spartan to be fully trained.

The Council reach a decision that the Relay 314 system is to be colonized by the Turians to assert more Control for the Council and to bring more resources to council space. The Batarians are frustrated as they planned on opening the relay without council authorization, but do nothing lest they aggravate the council peace keepers (Turians).

2159/2559 – The UNSC incorporates shield technology to all infantry forces and Space craft (from ships to fighters and in between). UNSC colonists recolonize harvest and restore its burnt surface to normal. Military ships discover that the moon of the dwarf planet in the outer solar system is an artificial construct encased in ice. Scientists hasten to the site expecting a forerunner cache.

The Council begin heavy colonization of relay 314 system as well as nearby systems. Batarians are doing the same on the opposite side of the Verge. Talks between the Council and the Batarians on slavery increase with Batarians considering outlawing it with increased co-operation and development with the Council.

2160/2560 The UNSC and SF (Sangheili Federation) begin Joint Operations to remove the Covenant Loyalist threat. The UNSC begins construction of their Flagship Sol ( Named after the Human Home System) it is a dreadnought with the length of 7.5 Km and will be armed with 3 MAC's and will always be escorted by a 8 Frigates for support.

The Batarians begin releasing slaves back to their homes with the promise that the council will begin providing economic aid for the drop in work force until the Batarians are completely reliant without slaves. Batarian slaver groups begin hiding in the traverse and terminus systems to avoid the law.

2161/2561 – UNSC scientists have fully uncovered the artefact from its ice cage and determined it is not of Forerunner origin, The UNSC and SF joint operations lead to the covenant loyalists being decimated and disbanded, all space flight capable vessels were seized and all covenant loyalist species were left on their home-worlds to recover on their own, with the exception of the San shyuum who are at the moment declared extinct. The Lek'golo (Hunters) are incorporated into the SF due to the fact they were being held hostage by the Loyalists, either fight or be glassed and the Lek'golo were in no position to decline.

The Council and the Batarians relations are going smoothly, all of the Batarians systems are free of slaves and the Batarian people have rejoiced however many slaver rings are still hidden in the Batarian underworld.

2162/2562 – The UNSC passes control of Human controlled space back to the United Earth Government (UEG) and passed a bill that means every colony is to be protected by a battle cluster of Orbital Defence Platforms (ODP's) which means at least 5 ODP's and a Fleet consisting of 2 frigates and 1 cruiser must pass through the system at least 1 time a week to ensure security. The UEG focuses on ODP's instead of fleet numbers as ODP's are more powerful than a handful of ships. Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood is still the military leader. The SF begin similar actions to their Human counterparts but ask permission of the UEG to provide support to the humans patrol operations. The UEG agrees, The UNSC and SF begin patrolling each others territory to bring co-operation to the forefront of the SF's agenda, they believe they owe the humans a debt that cannot be repaid.

The Council/Batarian colonization of half of the Skyllian verge is near completion, however many planets are only small colonies with small defences. The council have begun internal discussions whether or not the Batarian race is ready for the spectres and possibly a council seat.

2165/2565

The UNSC finish construction of The Flagship Sol and Officially its maiden voyage is to the Planet of Harvest the start of the Human-Covenant war, unofficially they are transporting new smart AI's to the artifact to determine its purpose. After the arrival of the AI's they immediately discerned it used an unknown element and was capable of transporting a spacecraft at FTL speeds to an identical artifact in an unknown system. There have been thousands of volunteers for the Spartan IV program, and at least 500 Spartan IV's are ready for combat, there are at least one fire team of Spartan's aboard each UNSC Cruiser, except for patrol Fleet's.

After much debate from the Batarians the Council decided to open the Relay 314 as it accesses systems otherwise accessible, but the fleet that travels through will be a joint operation between Council and Batarian forces. If this operation is successful then the Batarians will be a large step closer to a Spectre and then a council seat.

2166/2566 – The Flagship Sol decides to report its findings to UNSC head quarters and leaves for the epsilon eridani system (Reach). The Sol arrives and delivers the information. Fleet Admiral Harper is given command of the Flagship Sol due to his efforts in the invasion of Earth and succeeding where others had failed in the defence of earth. Admiral Harper is proud to accept this offer and is glad to be back in the fleet rather than in the ODP's surrounding Reach. Thanks to recovered forerunner tech, Reach is almost returned back to habitability. There are 8 new battle clusters surrounding reach.

The joint Turian/Batarian fleet (Fleet Ratio Turian/Batarian 70:30)consisting of 10 frigates, 3 cruisers and 1 Salarian STG scout vessel are prepared to open the relay but wait until the start of the standard galactic year.

2167/2567 – The UNSC patrol fleet enters the system consisting of one cruiser and 4 frigates, to begin standard patrol operations. Most of the battle clusters are built at every remaining colony. The UNSC scientists on the artifact report that the artifact is receiving a signal from an unknown location. The patrol fleet moves to help the scientists retreat from the artifact for safety precautions. There are 10 Spartan fire-teams aboard the UNSC Sol, recently posted.

The Joint Turian/Batarian fleet start to open the relay and send the signal to the other relay to power up. And the STG vessel prepares to enter the relay.

**Present Time**

**Onboard the UNSC Fortitude**

Captain Teague entered the Brig. "Jessica, are all the scientists aboard their ships?"

Jessica, the shipboard AI responded "Aye aye Captain, all scientists are accounted for"

"Good" The Captain snapped, "Pull the patrol fleet back midway in the system, if this artifact is activating I don't want to be dangerously close to whatever comes from that artifact."

Jessica questioned "expecting trouble Captain?"

The Captain replied "Not really, but I can't be to sure at the moment now can I, I have a planet to protect that has millions of civilians on the surface. Keep monitoring the artifact and alert me if anything changes."

"Aye sir" replied Jessica.

The Captain then left to the communications room to alert the Harvest battle cluster.

**Onboard the Salarian STG Stealth Frigate Jaeto**

"Captain we have received the signal" the ensign quipped

"Alright men we don't know what's on the other side of that relay. But its our job to find out. As soon as we exit on the other side I want the stealth systems up so we can remain undetected, understood ensign?" the captain said.

"Acknowledged" replied the crew.

The Captain then left for the lab where the gathered science team are and addressed them. " Professor Solus prep your team for analystic operations and be ready within 30 minutes"

"Yes Captain Kirrahe, won't be long now" replied Professor Mordin Solus.

With that the captain turned swiftly to the CIC and left for it.

As the Captain entered the CIC he could here the Pilot over the intercom. "Hitting the relay in 5...4...3...2...1. and we are away."

"How long till we hit the relay pilot?" asked Captain.

Just under 30 minutes sir and you can call me by my rank sir not my occupation."

"If that's what you would prefer lieutenant , give me a heads up when we are 2 minutes out" replied the Captain.

"Aye aye sir" the Pilot replied.

As Professor Solus was prepping his team some of his new associates were asking questions.

"Professor, why is it that we have brought along an archaeological team with us?" asked one of the young salarians asked.

"Council mission, possible Prothean ruins so I requested them to come."

"And im grateful for that Professor, this is an opportunity of a lifetime" the Asari said as she joined in.

"Glad to have you along Doctor T'soni, as well as your team, great asset to mission." stated the professor. "Now that that's cleared up. Any more questions? Good get prepped we are 2 minutes out."

As the STG Jaeto came through the relay the stealth systems were up in an instant and they began to move slowly inwards in the system.

"Sir picking up 5 planets, two gas giants 2 dwarf planets and 1 planet at the habitable zone."stated the Operator.

"Captain I have also detected 5 craft in the system along with 5 space stations above the planet. Along with a large structure that stems from the planet to the same distance as the space stations." shouted the other operator.

"First contact scenario?" asked the Captain

"Most likely sir, these ships are not transmitting any IFF's, with no terminus pirates being able to get here it is the logical conclusion" replied the operator.

"Take us in nice and slow I want a visual on the ships, so I can make a report back through the relay." snapped the captain.

**Onboard the UNSC Fortitude (same time)**

"Captain the artifact has been activated, it seems to have brought itself online and is spinning up it's core in a bright light" Jessica said over the intercom.

"Has anything come through" asked the Captain as he walked back onto the bridge.

"It flared pretty wildly and I got a blurred visual of a metallic object, rather sleek I may add .just not long after it came online but I don't detect any ships in the area" Jessica said rather calmly

"Keep watching the area and get the frigates to start checking the system for anything suspicious and alert the local battle cluster." Said the Captain.

**Onboard the STG Jaeto**

The STG craft was observing the 2 ships that seemed to be searching for something and the one ship that was waiting midway in the system.

"These ships appear to be searching for something, any chance they spotted us coming through the relay?" asked the Captain

"Its possible but when we used FTL to get behind the gas giant and the used our stealth systems they shouldn't be able to detect us unless they were close enough for a visual" stated the Operator.

"What have our scans picked up about their ships?" asked the Captain

"We have deduced that the two cruisers and the dreadnought appear to have armaments that are similar to a mass accelerator weapon, but we are not detecting any signs of element zero" stated the Operator

"What? Your telling me that these flying hunks of metal are not powered by eezo? Shouted the Captain

"Yes that is the assumption, but if that is the case then it is also likely that they do not have kinetic barriers. But also that they do not have FTL, which leads me to assume that this is their home planet." stated the Operator.

"Hmph" as all the captain got out "what do you make of this professor?"

the professor turned to his colleague and replied " your operators assessment is sound, but with this information it seems that we have no need of an archaeological team".

"true, but we can still be useful." stated the doctor as she moved in front of the salarians. " but before further action, perhaps a report to the citadel council and the fleet guarding relay 314?".

"yes of course, set our course back through the relay" Ordered the Captain

With that the ship moved for the relay and jumped. But before the jump they had to take down their stealth systems, leaving them open to view by the alien species.

**Onboard the UNSC Fortitude**

"Captain unknown ship just used the relay to travel back through" Jessica stated

"Great, that ship could have been doing surveillance on us and now it got away and we don't even have a clue who it is." the Captain said in a rather angry tone.

"Send a report to one of the nearby patrols we will need additional security here, we can't pursue, we could be heading into a trap." said the captain

"Aye sir, an additional 2 frigates will be hear in 48 hours" said Jessica.

**1 Day Later – The Council Chambers**

"Is this report accurate captain?" asked the Asari Councillor Tevos

"Yes it is councillor and may I add that this information has only been shared with the Turian captain who is guarding relay 314" replied Captain Kirrahe.

"Good we shall discuss the next steps we are to take in contacting this civilization would you please leave the chambers so we can talk in private." asked Councillor Tevos.

After the captain left the room the council began debating how to present themselves to this new race.

" I propose that we send the diplomatic team with the fleet from relay 314, who seconds this motion" said the Salarian Councillor Valern

"I" said both Tevos and the Turian Councillor Sparatus

"Then it is agreed, but we will have to warn the Batarian hegemony to tread carefully, if they step out of line then they will suffer the consequences". Said Tevos

"Agreed" said both of the other Councillors.

**In the Harvest System on-board the UNSC Fortitude**

"Captain, the artifact is flaring up again, best guess is that another ship is coming through."Said Jessica

"Get the frigates to form a line beside the Fortitude and we will see how things play out, assuming this is first contact we will prepare the first contact package" said the Captain as if almost rehearsed.

"Picking up visual putting it on screen" said Jessica

The crew on the bridge watched as ship after ship came through the artifact, a fleet of 10 corvettes and 3 frigates by the look of things.

"From the design I can discern that they are an unknown make of ship." said Jessica

"Send a signal to all ships in there fleet, prep the first contact package to be sent after my transmission." Ordered the Captain

**Onboard the Turian Cruiser Steel Talon**

General Arterius watched as his ships lined up to match the aliens ships formation and waited.

"General, we are getting a transmission form the dreadnought sized ship, putting it on screen" stated the Operator

The entire bridge was watching with anticipation, with the exception of the General who always expected the worst. The diplomatic team was watching to pick up any valuable information.

After a moment the screen came on and a figure that was closer akin to an Asari than a Batarian as it only had two eyes. The being wore a white uniform with medals pinned on his left side of his chest. He wore a white headdress that seemed to give the being an authoritative look as well as a stoic one. The being began to talk in an alien language but his body language was not showing hostility. the entire crew listened to the speech.

"This is Captain Teague of the UNSC Fortitude patrol fleet, I on behalf of the human race say welcome, but I must inform you that you may travel no further into the system as this is UNSC space and will be seen as an act of war if you continue, however I am able to open diplomatic negotiations and hope for a peaceful solution." The being looked down as if contemplating and looked back and said "we have seen enough of war, please be beings of peace." and with that the transmission ended. But almost immediately the linguistics group had already deciphered more than half and began replaying the message to the entire crew in a language they can understand. And within mere minutes the crew were happy to not have a direct confrontation with another species.

Matriarch Lidanya who was the head of the diplomatic team which had a representative from each species had begun transmitting a signal to the alien flagship to open negotiations.


	2. Chapter 2 Brief Discussions

**Disclaimer – I Obviously do not own Halo or Mass Effect, this story is just a fan fiction.**

**Onboard The UNSC Fortitude**

"Captain we are receiving a signal from the center frigate. It appears to be a video transmission."

said Jessica calmly as usual.

"Bring it up on screen" said the Captain.

The crew watched in awe as a very female being came on screen and began speaking in perfect English.

"This is Matriarch Lidanya, on behalf of the Citadel Council we greet you happily under the banner of peace. We would like to open diplomatic relations with your civilization to further our understanding of one another. Our civilization is a collection of species that furthers the cause of peace." said the Matriarch

"It is great news that you have come under the banner of peace, I would like to start diplomatic relations with your civilization, to determine whether or not we may be able to co-exist." stated the Captain rather calmly

"Wonderful, you may board our vessel with a single craft and with the permission of the admiral you are permitted to bring an armed escort. Approach the ship at these co-ordinates." said the Matriarch.

"Will do we will arrive ETA 20 Minutes, over and out" replied the Captain.

With that the screen went blank and turned off.

"Why do I feel like something is wrong, as if this is so familiar captain?" asked Jessica rather sarcastically.

"Because Jessica, the last group of aliens we met waged a genocidal war that nearly brought us to extinction and we haven't fully reclaimed all of the lost worlds. You would do well to remember that" said the Captain angrily at the AI.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to be disrespectful sir"

"Gunnery Sergeant Poole, report to hangar bay 12 with your squad of ODST's and be ready for a fight" ordered the Captain

The Captain made his way down to hangar bay 12 and boarded the pelican with the 8 ODST's he had ordered, they were all equipped for CQB, they were sporting the MA5B assault rifles designed for ship boarding actions. As ordered the pilot flew the pelican out of the hangar towards the alien ship and boarded at the designated location.

**Onboard the Turian Ship Steel Talon**

General Arterius was waiting in the hanger bay for the alien craft to enter the hangar. He was not alone, he was with the diplomatic team along with 2 squads of Turian soldiers. He saw the craft enter the hanger and rotate so the rear was facing the group and deploy its landing gear from the nose and the rear. The hatch opened at the back and 8 aliens walk out wearing black coloured armour carrying assault rifles from the looks of it, then the captain walked out. His walk and stature seemed to demand respect but it was not aggressive. The alien walked up to General Arterius and Matriarch Lidanya, he stood still and gave a swift salute as did his men, but the his men slapped their rifles back into their arms and stood still.

"Welcome aboard our ship Captain Teague" said the Matriarch

" Glad to be here, making history and all that" replied the Captain

"General Arterius, Commanding Officer of the Turian Hierarchy Steel Talon" Arterius greeted the alien

"Captain Teague, Commanding Officer of the UNSC Fortitude and the patrol fleet." He replied.

" now that we have been introduced we would like to escort you to the negotiation table" Lidanya said

"Of course, lets get under way." The Captain replied.

After the greetings they were at the negotiating table to discuss various things such as the removal of the Citadel Fleet from UNSC space.

As the negotiations began Captain Teague explained he is not at liberty to reveal information about the human race other than what is in the system right now until they determine the situation. The Turian general then countered.

"We are in a strange situation captain, we have a colony on the other side of the relay and we usually lock-down both ends with a colony for security reasons. However if you plan on becoming a member species of the Citadel Council we will overlook this small discrepancy" stated Arterius

"Discrepancy? This planet has been a UNSC colony for more than 60 years, you cannot just demand us to abandon it, or pressure us into joining your civilization, we agreed to negotiate not submit." stated the captain rather angrily

Before this could get out of hand the Matriarch intervened.

"Of course we will not ask you to leave but the general has a point, are going to join the Citadel races?" asked Lidanya

"That's not in my power to decide, I said I can negotiate as in terms of peace, I cannot however decide for the entire human race whether we are to join you, but if you give me the conditions we will send them to our government and the population will decide." said the Captain taking a firm stand

"Of course we shall give you the main points and give you the rest on file along with a limited codex for transmission to your government." said Lidanya

after looking at the specifications the human Captain had come to a decision to make his final statement and leave.

"Im sorry to say but some of these terms are unacceptable, you expect us to allow a foreign fleet to patrol our space, you also outlaw AI's which I may point out have saved more lives than saved more lives than what has been taken by them which is to say roughly billions saved dead zero. But as I said these are for the people to decide not me. I will however ask that you leave the system the way you came until a decision has been made, return in 1 week and you shall have your answer. I must take my leave, good day General, Matriarch." with a quick salute he left for the hangar bay escorted by his ODST's as they left in the pelican the alien fleet turned to exit through the relay and they were gone within moments.

**Onboard the UNSC Fortitude**

"Jessica you were monitoring that weren't you." quizzed the Captain

"aye aye sir standard procedure" replied Jessica

"Good I want you to send an update, as well as the limited codex of information, on the situation to UNSC highcom and the UEG, this is gonna get a lot more interesting." Said the Captain

"May I ask captain why you stated that harvest was a colony, that's against regulations, revealing crucial information." stated Jessica

"I know it is but they would have realised that themselves, I didn't want my fleet to look like it was all we had." shouted the Captain his eyes glaring at Jessica

"Highcom will most likely find that an acceptable reason" stated Jessica

"okay now, the patrol fleet will remain in system until after 2 weeks time for security measures, everyone back to your posts" ordered the Captain over the intercom.

**Relay 314 system Comm room of the TH Steel Talon**

"These aliens do not seem that interested in our laws, why don't we teach them a lesson about respecting their superiors" the Batarian Admiral Balak

"Because Admiral, they have not shown any hostility towards us or the other Council Races" said General Arterius

"Fine, but I request to remain here with my fleet for the defence of this system until the Council delegation returns, I don't want more competition for my race in the Skyllian Verge" said Balak

"Very well, but im not going to let you do that without a few Turian ships with you, you can remain here with your 5 frigates and 1 cruiser, I will leave my 5 frigates and spare cruiser in the defence of the colony and leave for the Citadel with my ship, but first refuelling on the colony of Orphus in this system." stated the General

"Fine just be quick about it" said Balak

With that the comms turned off and the Turian ships left for the colony.

**Onboard the Batarian Hegemony Cruiser the Bahak**

"Have you received the forwarded files about these aliens" asked Balak to the Hegemony agent with him.

"Yes and I believe it is best that we move forward with the plan, if we pull this off we will be so close to a council seat that it will basically be ours anyway, then we will be able to sway things in our favour for a change" said the mysterious agent.

"Very well, for the Hegemony, you had best take your leave then" stated Balak,

Without saying a word the agent left for the hangar to depart this ship for Batarian space.

One day later after everything was ready. Balak signalled the captains of the other ships to fire on the outdated frigate in the bunch after retrieving the majority of the lives aboard it and setting up a fake communications recordings.

"This is Admiral Balak to the Steel Talon are you hearing me?" shouted Balak

"This is General Arterius, what is your problem now, ive been gone for a day and your already missing my company?" said the General rather sarcastically

Balak smiled before replying "Have you not received my earlier transmissions? Ive been calling for help for the past 20 minutes" shouted Balak " The aliens came through the relay, the 4 cruisers and the dreadnought, I tried to signal them hoping it was a diplomatic envoy but they just closed the channel and opened fire, they gutted one of my frigates but we managed to scare them back through the relay with sustained fire on their dreadnought, the dreadnought managed to star venting atmosphere before they all left. I demand blood for the blood we have lost General" shouted Balak convincingly.

"All ships move to the relay we need to see this for ourselves" ordered the general.

Two cruisers and 5 frigates under the generals command were moving to the relay and saw the obliterated frigate along with hull damage on 2 of the surviving 4 frigates.

"This demands justice" said general Arterius "the Turian Hierarchy stands with you against such an unprovoked attack, be ready to move through the relay in 30 minutes, we need to a valuable lesson in manners, bloody barbarians" ordered the General.

"Thank you" Balak replied " if I may general can we talk in private over the comms?" asked Balak

"Of course" was the reply from Arterius

Balak left for the comms room and ordered the men out, and General Arterius did the same on his ship.

"Well that went better than expected" said Balak relieved

"Yes it did, Im pretty sure they bought it, im glad the diplomats are off to the citadel, no doubt they would be an annoyance, im looking forward to acquiring another client race for the Turian Hierarchy, given what this species can build im sure they will be a fine addition." said General Arterius

"And for our assistance we will have the vote of the Turian Hierarchy for full council member status and the privileges that come with it." stated Balak

"Well with our two nations working side by side we should be able to sway the galaxy to our favour, no doubt the Salarians will see following the Asari is not so wise any more and vote in favour of your government" said Arterius as he let out a little laugh " lets not get ahead of ourselves we need to pull this off first and don't forget that the foolish alien stated it was just a colony, we may have to deal with reinforcements. then it will be a new era of peace under our dominance"

"Agreed, let's get under way shall we?" asked Balak.

"Yes, lets get this over and done with" stated the General.

All ships then turned for the relay and headed through one by one, all 9 frigates and 3 cruisers.

The council however does not know what is going to emerge in the next week.

**Well looks like things just got interesting eh? Let me know what you think about the current situation in the reviews or PM's**


	3. Chapter 3 Battle For Harvest

**Disclaimer – I Obviously do not own Halo or Mass Effect, this story is just a fan fiction.**

**Onboard the UNSC Fortitude**

**1 day after first contact with the citadel races.**

The captain woke up in his quarters. He did his usual military routine, wash, shave, brush teeth, then get dressed. He had a few minutes to spare though before he is required to be on the bridge.

So he looked in his bedside drawer and pulled out an old family photo, it displayed him and his family while he was a child at the age of 12. Just 1 year after the start of the human covenant war. He had joined the UNSC Navy at age 18. He looked at how his mother looked and how his father looked back then, and at his 4 siblings who were 2 older brothers and 2 younger sisters.

His father had passed on before the human covenant war started, he died not knowing the horror of that war. However the rest of his family weren't so lucky his mother and younger sisters were killed by the covenant on the initial assault of Sigma Octanus IV, glassed before they could even get to the fallout bunker. His oldest brother who was 6 years older than him had died in the defence of reach, covenant zealots had infiltrated Visegrad relay and he was sent with some marines to investigate, only to be captured and tortured for information, he died revealing nothing to the aliens. His closest sibling who was 3 years older than him, assumed KIA at the Ark Installation as no one but the arbiter had returned from that suicide mission. He had payed his respects long ago at the Voi memorial to all off them. But it is impossible to move on from such devastation. He realised that he had known nothing but war from his 12th birthday till his 40th birthday. And now after 15 years of peace, The human race has encountered yet another group of aliens. He hopes that this doesn't turn to a confrontation, as many more families will feel the same devastation he does. He had never had the time to start a family of his own and to old to do so now, he had pledged his life to humanity to defend Earth and all her Colonies, to defend the families that live under his watch.

Jessica appeared on the monitor and said "Captain, the Relay has started to flare again, perhaps they want answers now instead of a weeks time?"

Captain Teague did not like his gut feeling right now, dread. He was told to always trust his gut and it served him well so far. He stood up and ran to the bridge. On the way he ordered "Jessica get all ships up to operational status and and form a line with my cruiser... and charge mac gun's ready to fire" ordered the Captain

"Expecting trouble Captain?" quizzed the AI

"I have that feeling that this is not the diplomatic team from the Council" he stated

"ALL CREW REPORT TO BATTLESTATIONS, THIS IS NOT A DRILL" rang out over the comms system

As he got to the bridge and sat in his command chair " are the shields up Jessica?" he asked

"At 100 % 1 minute ago sir" she replied "Captain the ships are coming through the relay now and forming a line and advancing on our location" she said rather alarmed

"Send a signal to all alien ships to cease advance or be ready to wage war" he said rather coldly

"Signal sent and they have received... they closed the channel sir and are charging the weapons of their main guns and are preparing to fire" she shouted

"Do not fire until fired upon, when they fire first we have full reason to retaliate, get all longsword bombers and sabre interceptors out of the hangar and battle ready." he said calculating the political fallout of this situation.

"All 6 squadrons reporting lift-off sir" she stated, awaiting next command.

**Onboard the TH Steel Talon**

"Get me a comm channel to Admiral Balak" shouted General Arterius

"Yes General?" said Balak

"Be ready to fire on these primitives" stated Arterius

"They have set up the same defensive line they had before sir" reported the Operator

"No matter, they do not even have kinetic barriers, charge the main gun and fire on the dreadnought." ordered Arterius to the fleet.

Within a moment the main gun on all ships had charged and fired towards the UNSC Fortitude.

But to the amazement of the entire fleet the ship remained unscathed, in fact they had not even reached the ships hull.

"Do we have a malfunction Operator?" asked the General.

"No sir everything is fine...sir scanners detect the projectiles hit a barrier, it seems they have shields of some sort." replied the Operator

"Well no shit operator, maintain fire on the dreadnought, have half of the frigates engage their cruisers." ordered the General

"Aye sir" chirped the Operator.

But within in moments the alien ships had begun firing on the frigates and 3 frigates were brought down under sustained fire from the alien cruisers and bombers from the looks of things.

"Maintain fire on the enemy cruisers and launch all fighters to intercept their bombers." ordered the General

After a few minutes of firing two enemy Cruisers were downed but at the cost of 1 Turian cruiser and the majority of the fighters.

Arterius then ordered all ships to make a calculated jump towards the dark side of the habitable planet to start deploying ground troops, but he ordered his ships to avoid the space stations, as they have Dreadnought capability, from what scanners tell him.

He ordered the remaining fighters to keep the dreadnought and two remaining cruisers busy.

**Onboard the UNSC Fortitude**

"By the looks of things they didn't like the bite of our MAC gun's sir" Jessica stated

"No the didn't but they took 2 of our frigates with their 3 corvettes and 1 frigate, dammit why is it every time we encounter an alien race that war breaks loose. Anyway they have jumped further in system, warn General Williams of the Harvest Defence Force, and alert the ODP's for battle. Order the Sabres and Longswords to mop up here the head further in system towards the enemy, we will move in now to delay them. Jessica, we need to alert Highcom of the situation" He said

"Already done sir, the battle group will arrive here in two days" stated Jessica

"How are the shields holding?" quizzed the Captain

"Holding steady and recharging from 30 %" said Jessica

"Good lets avoid direct contact at the moment but we can still disrupt their activities." stated the Captain " move in to the Battle Cluster for defense then we will begin operations against the aggressor's.

"Aye sir" replied Jessica.

**Inside Fire-base Alpha Ground Ops**

General Williams was contemplating what had gone down in the last 30 minutes, we had gone from negotiations to war. He began dispersing his troops throughout the only city on the surface, which was named Shanxi. The orbital elevator was to be protected to start lifting civilians for evacuations.

If that fell and the patrol fleet then, there was no way off this rock for 2 days.

"I want the 53rd armoured to intercept the landing alien forces on the south end perimeter, 23rd engineers are to set up ambushes along the way to the center of the city, destroy any bridge that the enemy use, it should buy the civilians some time." declared the General.

"Sir the enemy ships have started landing ground troops and started bombing runs on the city with cannons from there ships, they are not targeting military assets at the moment" said the Operator on the comms

"Alright start evacuating the civilians and order our infantry to dig in, the armoured division will be the main deterrent against enemy ground forces along with artillery support, get those missile launchers ready, we hit those ships with a barrage of missiles each time they come close, this is all a delaying action for the civilians to get the hell out of here. You have your orders men" ordered the General

**Onboard the BH Bahak**

"Get me the general on the line" ordered Balak

"Online sir" replied the operator

"Whats our next plan, we obviously underestimated their ship capabilities" stated Balak

"We are to destroy their resolve,they wont fire at us if their civilians are under us for the risk of collateral, they are evacuating civilians via this space elevator, it must be destroyed in order to weaken their morale, so while you accomplish this my fleet will engage the any enemy ship that leaves the perimeter of those space stations, I have ground forces converging on the power generators that are in the wilderness. You have your orders" stated the General while leaving the comms channel.

"Damn ass hole will be the death of me, but he has a plan and a good one, but im not risking my ship for his life" said Balak as he muttered to himself."All frigates fire on the base of that elevator, no doubt we will bring it down. my cruiser will provide support to ground forces."

**Onboard the UNSC Fortitude**

"Alright all MAC stations are ready but won't fire on the enemy ships until there is no collateral damage" Jessica stated.

"Okay, set the two frigates to drop a contingent of ODST's near the ODP power generators for defence and move to engage the enemy thats moving to attack the space elevator, while that is happening, we will drop a second contingent of ODST's into the city directly on top of advancing alien ground forces." ordered the Captain

"Frigates a moving into the atmosphere to proceed with operations." Jessica stated

"Good tell Gunnery sergeant Poole to prepare his platoon for atmosphere drop, he has 15 minutes till drop." ordered the captain

Over the radio coming from the frigates that are dropping troops to the power generators.

"Troopers we are green and very very mean!" shouted an ODST Commander as they began their descent to the ground."

"The frigates are moving to intercept enemy corvettes that are pounding the elevator, they are coming in fast and low and have deployed additional longsword bombers to assist with the attack" stated Jessica

On screen from one of the camera's on the outskirts of the city. The camera panned up to see 3 enemy ships pounding the elevator, to shift their focus on the frigates approaching, the longsword bombers start weakening the kinetic barriers of the ships and leave the area to escape friendly fire, then 2 frigates come into view firing 3 mac rounds each 2 at a separate target then 1 from each at the 3rd. Marines could be heard cheering in the streets only to be dashed when the one frigate exploded, the enemy had begun concentrated fire simultaneously, preventing the shields to cope with the intake. The other frigate ascended to return fire at one ship whilst firing broad side cannons at another, it severely damaged one alien ship causing it to plummet to the ground however the ship it had broadsided had begun firing close range lasers rather than broad side canons, the UNSC frigate didn't stand a chance and was brought down to the ground, crashing into the base of the orbital elevator. The elevator was damaged but was still operational.

"Well were down 4 frigates and left with 1 cruiser , they are down 8 corvettes and still have 1 and also 2 frigates. This just upped the stakes, we have to defend that orbital elevator. Deploy the ODST's to delay the enemy advance, we must keep the situation under our control" shouted the Captain

Over the radio again Gunnery sergeant Poole and his men were just about to drop when he said

"Dropping into hell troopers, time to grow a pair" and with that all 40 pods descended into the atmosphere.

Okay keep me posted Jessic...

Jessica butted in "Captain, the enemy has breached the ODST defense around the ODP power generators and have taken out 2 through 4." stated Jessica.

"Dammit we only have two generators now, send down the longsword bombers and sabre interceptors to delay the enemy along with 2 pelicans of troops." ordered the Captain

"Aye sir" Jessica replied.

"We need to lure the enemy frigates up here for a confrontation, any ideas, Jessica?" asked the Captain

"One sir, perhaps we should fake an engine malfunction, I have monitoring the two frigates and the seem to be scanning us constantly waiting for us two make the wrong move, I can make a pretty convincing distraction sir" Jessica stated

"Do it" ordered the Captain.

Sirens start blaring and the engine starts drifting at an odd angle away form the enemy frigates.

"Looks like it worked sir" Jessica stated " they are already converging on our location.

**Onboard the TH Steel Talon**

Damn aliens making a fool of the Hierarchy's most decorated General, most of his fleet gone in a single day, glad he used the Batarians as cannon fodder though. The general thought to himself

"General the enemy dreadnought has received an engine malfunction, it seems our VI's finally turned them off." stated the Operator

"Good tell it to work on the main gun next" ordered the General

"Balak, get your cruiser along side mine we are about to take out that dreadnought." ordered the Turian general.

"Damn Turian, cost me my fleet just... fine its the best option right now any way" replied Balak.

The dreadnought was now in sight.

"Fire the main cannon" ordered the general "Prepare to broadside, get the guardian lasers ready, I want this tin can smashed into scrap metal"

As the shields of the UNSC Fortitude began to wither, the engine roared to live followed by cannon fire from its broad side guns.

"Impossible, you said that it was disabled" he said as he turned to the Operator.

"It was until moments ago when our VI just shut down completely, we only have firewalls stopping them from hacking our systems" the Operator replied "our shields are at 10 % orders sir?"

"Spirits, all hands abandon ship get to the escape pods set the shit on intercept course for the dreadnought." ordered the General as he ran to the escape pods.

He climbed into the escape pod with two other Turians and then hit the button, the doors slammed shut and the pod blasted away from the ship. He could only watch his ship crash into the lower half of the dreadnought as his escape pod and the 9 others that were descending into the atmosphere.

**Onboard the BH Bahak**

"The Turian Generals ship is down I repeat it is down, disengage dreadnought sir?" shouted the Operator

"Affirmative, make for the relay, we will need reinforcements to crush these infidels, save the battle report, we will need it for the council, delete the comms records between me and Arterius, leave the Turian frigate to its fate" ordered the Batarian admiral.

With that the Batarian ship zoomed into FTL to come out next to the relay and then used the relay to disappear.

**Onboard the UNSC Fortitude**

After the large crash in the lower part of the hull.

"Status report now" ordered the captain

"Decks 10 through fifteen are venting atmosphere, im sealing all appropriate bulkheads, damage is extensive but we can still operate at full functionality" stated Jessica "The other alien frigate is leaving the system, seems they can feel fear"

"Right get us over to the ODP's so we can manage the situation" ordered the Captain.

"Sir the alien forces surrounding the ODP generators are defeated" stated Jessica

"Good get me the line to General Williams" ordered the Captain.

Instantly the General was on-screen and talking to the Captain. "We have just started pushing the aliens out of the city and your ODST's were a big help in taking out there armour." stated the General "The enemy ship appears to be bugging out, withdrawing forces, I have ordered the ODP's to hold fire until clear of friendly fire, should be just a few minutes before troops fall back."

shouted General Williams

Within 10 minutes all surviving troops and civilians were out of the city. The ODP charged its main cannon... and fired, the round flew through the air and smashed the enemy frigate in half, the front half fell into the city, flattening everything as it made its way to the ground, the other half was descending near the orbital elevator and then a sudden explosion coming from what would appear to be the engine, a shock wave began to shake the orbital elevator and it began to sway, tearing the tethers that hold it up, it began to sway and started falling in the direction away form the survivors from the city and crashed along the planet towards the north pole.

"Jesus Christ, what the fuck just happened" shouted General Williams down the radio.

"The orbital elevator is gone, its falling away from your position, your safe for the moment. The enemy ships engine exploded and shook the tether, to pieces. Some alien somewhere is gonna be torn a new ass hole" shouted the Captain

"Sir, the enemy frigate we boarded was the ship you entered for negotiations, the alien General was on-board, 10 escape pods left for harvest's surface, If you want answers, the general Arterius is the one you need." stated Jessica.

"Well, now I have an alien, just need to rip it a new breathing hole. Of course send teams to capture the aliens alive, we need answers." replied the Captain

"The Battlegroup is 24 hours out" replied Jessica

"How am I gonna explain this to them?" asked the Captain

"You won't, I already sent a report their way, they now the battle is over for now, and how our efforts saved what remains of this planet" stated Jessica.

**End of chapter 3 **

**do you like how this is so far? If not PM me, constructive criticism only. In the next chapter I will provide a small codex for those who are wondering ship specifications etc as the chapters go :)**


	4. Chapter 4 Decisions

**Disclaimer – I Obviously do not own Halo or Mass Effect, this story is just a fan fiction.**

**Serpent Nebula – Council Chambers**

"If this first contact package is to be believed from this new species, they are not strangers to war, throughout their history, it has been nothing but conflict until they formed this UNSC. Tell me, what do you make of this Doctor?" asked Councillor Sparatus

"The designation UNSC stands for United Nations Space Command and is the forefront of their military, economic and scientific branches of government. However the UNSC is under the control of the UEG, which stands for the United Earth Government." answered Liara

"Is this Earth their homeplanet? Or some other faction?" asked Councillor Tevos

"Most likely homeplanet, they have not mentioned another species. Logical conclusion it is there home planet" replied Professor Solus

"Hmm, at least 2 known planets not in the same system, likely another form of FTL if they do not use Mass effect to travel." stated Councillor Valern

"Logical conclusion yes, however they have not specified technological capability in their first contact package, except the use of Nuclear weapons used as a last resort." stated Mordin Solus

"And from the recording of the Captain of their patrol fleet, it seems they use AI's due to how he was upset with our law regarding them." stated Valern

As a recording of the entire visit was shown on screen, the Doctor and Professor started to point other factors.

"As you can see here, he showed respect to our dignitaries by saluting them" stated Liara

"Yes and as you can see his escort consisted of almost fully armoured beings that were wielding chemical propelled weapons, as well as combat knives strapped to the left side of their chests." stated Mordin

"But the most amazing thing is how close they resemble the Asari, beside skin colour and the short fur on his head." said Liara with a little enthusiasm.

"The Captain stated he would pass along the information to his government, he also stated we should travel back to the system in a weeks time to begin official diplomatic relations." said Matriarch Lidanya with a smile on her face "This species that call itself Human or Humanity if you will, seem to be peaceful"

"A vote is in order, who votes to send a full welcoming committee to see them join our community? I do" said Tevos

"I too" said Valern

"And I" said Sparatus, to avoid suspicion of his government

"Very well as per the request of this Captain Teague we will send our team there for full negotiations in 5 days time" said Tevos "This meeting of the Council is adjor..."

"Wait" shouted Balak as he entered the Chambers " I demand blood"

"Blood, from who Admiral?" quizzed Valern

"From the Humans! They attacked us shortly after the diplomats left, an unprovoked attack on me, I pushed them back through the relay and with the help of General Arterius we took the fight to them!" shouted Balak

"And do you have any proof of this" asked Sparatus, knowing full well what his answer should be.

"Yes I do, im forwarding the files to you now, but I ask that whatever decision you make, the Hegemony will want to join in attacking them" stated Balak.

"We will take that into account you shall be informed in 2 hours what our actions will be regarding this matter. However I must ask that everyone leave so me and my fellow Councillor's can convene"

said Tevos coldly

Balak grunted but stormed off with Mordin and Liara not far behind.

"These reports seem authentic" reported Valern

"They have kinetic barriers as well as powerful Mass accelerator weapons" stated Sparatus

"This Captain Teague will have a lot to answer for, for this unprovoked attack. However we should not underestimate their tactical brilliance, they took out our expedition fleet with just a patrol fleet" stated Tevos

"But their ships specifications are strange according to this report and radio transmissions from the Humans" reported Valern " they have Frigates the size of our Cruisers AND Cruisers the size of our Dreadnoughts"

"And if I have anything to say about it This Human Captain will hang!" shouted Sparatus

"Please be calm about this, its still possible this was a misunderstanding, however a joint fleet of our races and the Batarians will be sent to guard Relay 314 and await further orders. Do you both agree?" Asked Tevos

"Yes" snapped the other Councillor's

"Very well, meeting is adjourned" replied Tevos

**Onboard the UNSC Fortitude**

The Captain was going over everything that has happened within the last day.

"Captain, I have discerned that the aliens who attacked us were only 2 species that live in Citadel Space, The Turians are Peacekeepers of their space. However the Batarians are a race that want more say in Citadel Space, so they have been doing joint operations with the Turians to ease tensions between their governments." Stated Jessica

"Okay, anything else I should be aware of" quizzed the Captain

"Yes, before we destroyed the Turian frigate, which Is actually a Cruiser in their terms. I managed to hack into their ships systems and I downloaded all information, navigation records and communication records mostly, I have begun deciphering their separate languages to see if we can find out their motives, I should have a full report in 6 hours." stated Jessica

"You thought of everything, good work Jessica, how far off are the battle-group?" asked the Captain

"Coming out of slipspace now actually" she said while bringing it up on screen.

3 Cruisers and 8 frigates came out of Slip-space just near the ODP's.

"Start communication with them to find out our next move." ordered the Captain

"Aye sir, their AI states after my report in 6 hours we will be able to decide what next" stated Jessica

"Good enough, keep me posted Jessica" ordered the Captain

"Aye sir" she replied.

The Captain began reading reports, his ship could still function at optimum capacity with the loss of the lower decks. But he knew it was best to be a support role at the moment. He began reading the reports for the battle. Over 5000 service men and women lost from my patrol fleet alone. The 53rd armoured division ground-side was wiped along side the majority of the defense force holding the line for the civilians to escape, roughly 1200 humans gave their lives ground-side. Then the civilian casualties were staggering, bombardment from the aliens ships had killed over 50'000 civilians while they were evacuating via the space elevator.

_Unbelievable, the universe doesn't cut Humanity any slack does it ? _The Captain thought to himself

"Captain?" asked General Williams over the Comm as he came on screen.

"Yes General, is their something you need?"

"Yes, your ODST's have brought in the survivors from the escape pod's and have identified the Turian General. I need permission from the Navy officer to begin interrogations as per regulation" stated General Williams

"Do whatever you think is necessary, but don't kill him, he deserves a public hanging for these war crimes" ordered the Captain.

"Understood Captain, Williams out" he replied as the screen went blank.

**Inside Fire-base Alpha's Makeshift Interrogation Room**

7 Hours later when Jessica had provided a translation program to all High ranking members of the Navy and Defense force.

General Arterius was brought in and chained to a chair. He was guarded by two ODST's with Shotguns. The doors slid open and General Williams walked in and punched the Turian in the face hard enough for one of his teeth to be thrown at the floor along with a bluish coloured blood .

Arterius looked back at the General and spat at his shoes.

"Damn primitives, my nation will be along to bomb you back to the stone age!" screamed Arterius

"That did not work the last time aliens tried that you know and how does a General of an alien race justify an unprovoked attack on our planet and the slaughter of innocent civilians!" roared Williams

"Since your species assaulted us through the relay!" shouted Arterius.

"What, no UNSC ships have passed through it, we have been monitoring the entire situation over the past few days on the Orbital Stations" stated Williams

"You can fabricate any story you like, but we know the truth and we shall have justice, I General Desolas Arterius Declare It!" screamed Arterius.

"Yes, wave your stick around, but it won't be enough when we assault your colony on the other side of the relay" said Williams rather sly

"You wouldn't dare!" dared Arterius

Williams suddenly uppercutted Arterius sending him and his chair falling backwards onto the floor.

"You will find out soon enough that we Humans can give as good as we get!" barked Williams "And that we don't play nice when civilians are slaughtered you bag of shit!"

Williams then left the room and ordered the ODST's to do the same, the doors slammed shut and locked. The room went pitch black and Arterius was left in the room chained to a chair lying back on the floor.

**Onboard The UNSC Fortitude**

Captain Teague read the report from General Williams, seems that the Turians are very disciplined.

Arterius had argued back but not revealing anything important other than he seems over-confident of his species capabilities.

"Captain Teague" said the Admiral of the Battlegroup as he came up on screen.

"Sir" The Captain replied as he snapped to salute and waited for the return gesture.

The Admiral saluted back and they both stood at ease. "After our AI's have gone over this countless times in the past few hours. We have come to a decision that my Battlegroup will head through the relay as it provides almost instantaneous travel to the other relay. No doubt they will have some sort of defense, we will send through our Longswords and Sabres followed buy our Frigates and then Cruisers. However I request that you remain behind in case they come through the relay. You are ordered to remain behind and receive repairs while waiting for the UNSC Sol to arrive in this system, when it does you are to take the AI Jessica with you on-board the Sol. Is that understood Captain?" said Admiral Drescher

"Crystal sir" replied Captain Teague

"Alright, we have permission from Highcom to proceed. We are however going to hold our use of nuclear weapons for the time being. Their codex says it is illegal, we shall show some courtesy and not fire on non-combatants as per the law. Hopefully it will show the Asari and Salarians that we want a peaceful solution. You have your orders Captain, see them through, Drescher out" Said the Stoic Admiral

**Sorry For the wait, some of you have asked me to provide information so here goes :D**

**Codex**

**Citadel Races Ship Classifications**

**Dreadnought – **Dreadnoughts are kilometre capital ships mounting heavy, long-range fire-power. They are only deployed for the most vital missions. A dreadnought's power lies in the length of its main gun. Dreadnoughts range from 800 meters to one kilometre long, with a main gun of commensurate length. An 800-meter mass accelerator is capable of accelerating one twenty-kilogram slug to a velocity of 4025 km/s (1.3% the speed of light) every two seconds. Each slug has the kinetic energy of about 38 kilotons of TNT, about two and a half times the energy released by the fission weapon that destroyed Hiroshima. Dreadnoughts are so large that it is impossible to safely land them on a planet, and must discharge their drive cores into the magnetic field of a planet while in orbit. The decks of large vessels are arranged perpendicular to the ship's axis of thrust, so that the "top" decks are towards the front of the ship and the "bottom" decks are towards the rear of the ship.

**Cruiser – **Cruisers are middle-weight combatants, faster than dreadnoughts, and more heavily-armed than frigates. Cruisers are the standard patrol unit, and often lead frigate flotillas.Cruisers cannot land on medium or high-gravity worlds, but do possess the ability to land on low-gravity planets. Cruisers are ideal in any planetary assault.

**Frigate – **Frigates are small, fast ships used for patrolling and for screening larger vessels. On their own, frigates do not pack much of a punch, but when operating in "wolf-pack flotillas", they can often overwhelm larger vessels. Frigates are capable of entering a planet's atmosphere and landing on the surface, but must first deactivate their kinetic barriers for re-entry.

**Fighter –** A small craft that is launched from larger vessels such as cruisers and used to swarm enemy ships with disruptor torpedoes to shred enemy shields and armour.

All Citadel Species Vessels use guardian lasers at broadside battles. Have strong kinetic barriers, these are however not able to prevent plasma damage as plasma is energy projection and not a projectile.

**Treaty Of Farixen**

The Treaty Of Farixen stipulates the amount of dreadnoughts a navy may own, with the Turian peacekeeping fleet being allowed the most. As of 2163, the Turians had 37 dreadnoughts, the Asari had 21, the Salarians had 16, and the Hegemony had 6 with another under construction. As of 2165, the Dreadnought count was 39 Turian, 20 Asari, 16 Salarian, and 8 Batarian. By 2166, Batarians had constructed a ninth dreadnought, and the Volus have built a single dreadnought of their own.

**Citadel Conventions**

These diplomatic talks occurred in the wake of the Krogan Rebellions, as a response to the destruction of the conflict and an attempt to distance the Council from the brutal Krogan warfare.

The Conventions regulate the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction. A WMD causes environmental alteration to a world. A bomb that produces a large crater is not considered a WMD; a bomb that causes a "nuclear winter" is.

Use of WMD is forbidden on "garden" worlds like Earth, with ecospheres that can readily support a population. If a habitable world is destroyed, it will not be replaced for millions of years. The Conventions do not forbid the use of WMD on hostile worlds or in sealed space-station environments. Many militaries continue to develop and maintain stockpiles.

The Conventions graded Weapons of Mass Destruction into tiers of concern. Tier I is the greatest threat to galactic peace.

TIER I: Large kinetic impactors, such as asteroid drops or de-orbited space stations. Effectively free and available in any system (in the form of debris left over from planetary accretion), kinetic impactors are the weapons of choice for terrorists and "third galaxy" nations.

TIER II: Uncontrolled self-replicating weapons, such as nanotechnology, viral or bacteriological organisms, "Von Neumann devices", and destructive computer viruses. These weapons can lie dormant for millennia, waiting for a careless visitor to carry them on to another world.

TIER III: Large energy-burst weapons such as nuclear or antimatter warheads.

TIER IV: Alien species deliberately introduced to crowd out native forms necessary for the health of an ecosystem. Ecological tampering can take years to bear fruit, making it difficult to prove.

**UNSC Ship Classifications**

**Dreadnought (New) –** The first ship of this classification has been made. The UNSC Sol is now the baseline of future Dreadnought construction. Its size is 7.5 Km in length, 1 Km in width and 1Km in height. It is by far the most expensive naval vessel in the history of the Human Race. It holds 3 Super MAC's on the bow. It carries 50 squadrons each of Sabres and Longswords. And has hangar bays to store it's 8 escort frigates inside for concealment. It houses 10,000 soldiers of various roles of combat. It also houses 500 Spartan IV's.

**Cruiser –** The warhorse of the UNSC it ranges from 1Km to 1.2Km. Its has seen a major refit since the Great War and sports strong shield generators that protect it from projectile and plasma damage. This vessel is usually encountered in a trio supported by Frigates. Has 50 broadside cannons on either side of the hull and has 12 hangar bays for launching squadrons of Longswords and Sabres.

**Frigate –** Frigates are the warships that participate in ground-side support. They range from 500m to 600m in length. They have many 10 cannons on either side of the ship that are used for broadside battles and ground support. These ships when not supporting Cruisers are usually found in pairs, either performing recon or ground support. If engaging an enemy fleet they move in a small fleet of 4 frigates to suppress the enemy ships. They sport MAC's half the power of a Cruiser. Have various ground and air assault vehicles for the Ground support operations.

**Prowler** - This ship ranges from 100m to 200m and has a cloaking field that hides it's emissions from sensors and appears invisible upon visual sensors. These craft are usually used in recon and espionage missions. Mostly used by ONI Operatives. Does not have a MAC.

**Magnetic Accelerator Cannon(MAC)**

A standard ship-based MAC fires a 600-ton slugs at around 30 kilometres per second; the high muzzle speed provides the slug the kinetic energy and momentum necessary to damage a target and partially mitigates the unguided nature of the slug and its lack of manoeuvrability. The standard orbital platform model on the other hand fires a (Super MAC) 3,000-ton slug at nearly .04_c_, or around 12,000 kilometres per second, which is capable of piercing multiple obstacles before fully stopping the projectile, if needed. It should be noted that the Super MAC has the capability of gutting a CCS Assault Carrier in one shot, whether its shields are up or not and has the potential to go on and destroy a second and damage a third.

**Nuclear Arsenal**

Nuclear weapons are carried by the Cruisers of the UNSC and are only used in a last resort if the battle is failing horrifically. However these weapons are reserved for space battles in modern times, because the Human-Covenant war had made almost half of human worlds inhabitable because of Nuclear fallout.


	5. Chapter 5 Retaliation

**Disclaimer – I Obviously do not own Halo or Mass Effect, this story is just a fan fiction.**

**Prior to the dispatch of the Battlegroup and then the Flagship Sol**

The UEG had heard the recent attack of Harvest and was in an uproar. They couldn't decide whether or not commit their society to war again. Half of the committee wanted war and the other wanted a quick resolution, preferably peaceful. However they had all come to a unanimous decision that until it is solved the UNSC is approved for offensive operations and they should get under-way immediately. The UEG had kept the conflict quiet for the moment.

In the Highcom chamber there was Fleet Admiral Hood at the top, Fleet Admiral Harper and Fleet Admiral Drescher. The other Admirals were busy organizing the patrols with the SF.

After much debating on the next course of action and with the permission from the UEG. The Admirals had come to a decision, Admiral Drescher was going to keep the pressure on the Turians on the other side of the relay, while Admiral Harper was going to head to Harvest to retrieve Captain Teague and the AI Jessica and head To the Citadel with the Ambassador for Humanity via slipspace.

The limited codex did not provide locations or names of alien worlds, just the location of the Citadel and its defenses. The UNSC Sol would arrive at the Citadel within 2 days and Admiral Drescher would have to hold the line until a peaceful solution could be reached. The only bad part of this plan was that if a peaceful solution could not be reached we would have another galactic confrontation on our hands. At the moment it is infeasible, the UEG had focused on the rebuilding of the ODP's and building new ones for increased security. That had not given us much time to rebuild our fleet to pre-war status. We have half the ships we had before the start of the Great War, even though they are upgraded quite well. We just have to many unknown factors in this at the moment.

The Admiral's had their orders and would see them through to the letter. They all stood at attention and saluted one another. Then they left for their respective duties.

**Serpent Nebula Joint Species Fleet**

Matriarch Lidanya had volunteered to be on the expedition team. She had now returned to the Destiny Ascension and resumed command of the Asari Flagship. On the monitor she could see the largest Mixed species fleet ever assembled. She could see 5 Turian Dreadnoughts, 10 Turian Cruisers, and 20 Turian Frigates. The Batarians had provided 2 Dreadnoughts, 6 Cruisers and 10 Frigates. The Salarians had provided 8 Cruisers and 20 Frigates. While her own species had provided the Destiny Ascension, which was the largest Citadel Dreadnought in existence. Whilst also providing 4 Cruisers and 10 Frigates. That numbered off to 96 ships that were intended on stopping this war before it got out of hand. She had been chosen to lead them, as an instrument of the Council. She turned the comms on and spoke.

"This is Matriarch Lidanya of the Destiny Ascension. We have our orders. We are heading to the Relay 314 system. We have to travel through 4 relays before we are there so let's get under way. ETA 24 hours. Matriarch Lidanya out"

All 96 ships started to fly through the relay starting their long journey into the unknown.

**The Relay 314 System – Orbit of the Turian Colony Orphus**

After the warning from Admiral Balak, the local Turian defense fleet had moved to protect the planet. The ships in the defense were the local ships as well as ships on patrol in nearby systems. The gathered defense consisted of 1 Dreadnought 4 Cruisers and 10 Frigates. The Admiral who was commanding the Dreadnought which was named TH Indomitable He had initially thought that Balak was insane, but after a quick view of the reports he wasn't so sceptical.

**Onboard The TH Indomitable**

"Any activity from the relay Operator?" quizzed the Admiral

"Negative Admiral" replied the Operator

"Maintain position in the planets orbit, I want a clear view of the relay from here" replied the Admiral "And thanks to this report we can designate the enemy ships to what they call them, send the memo to the other ship Captains."

He looked over the reports again. _This can't be right. General Arterius has not lost a battle for over a decade. Now to lose to a newcomer species that barely lacks a large fleet. _The Admiral thought to himself. _If they show up in this system they shall know the meaning of pain. Unprovoked attack through our relay. Unbelievable._ He carried on reading the report for the next 15 minutes

**15 Minutes Later**

"Okay Operator any new developments?" asked the Admiral

"Yes sir, the Citadel Fleet have left Serpent Nebula and are heading here. They shall arrive in 24 hours." replied the Operator

"Good, then we can begin more offensive operations" smirked the Admiral.

"Admiral the relay is flaring up, it seems they are coming through" shouted the Operator

"Alert the ships, all hands to battle stations" ordered the Admiral

Within moments Soldiers were running to their stations whilst sirens are blaring. All of the Fleet were getting into formation, Dreadnought in the center with the 2 Cruisers on either side of it, followed by 5 Frigates surrounding them. Small craft were coming through the relay, followed by the Human Frigates and 3 Bulky Cruisers. The Frigates were moving towards the planet of Orphus escorted by their Fighters and Bombers. The Cruisers however were moving slower as if waiting for something.

After a few minutes of tense waiting the Human ships were nearly in range.

"All ships prepare to fire on my mark" barked the Admiral

The atmosphere was tense in the CIC as they were waiting for the ships to come in range.

"Sir, we being hailed by the alien ships." stated the Operator.

"Cut them off, I don't want to hear their pleas for peace." shouted the Admiral "Now all ships fire at will!"

**Onboard the UNSC Dawn Till Dusk – Admiral Drescher's Cruiser**

After coming through the Relay the Admiral received the scans of the system. A defensive fleet orbiting the planet. He began barking orders left, right and center.

"Attention this is Admiral Drescher. All frigates press forward and set up a defensive line. Longswords and Sabres escort them. The Cruisers will advance slowly behind your position as to provide reinforcements if things go south." Rang out over the comms of every UNSC vessel in the Battlegroup.

"I want priority targets, you know the enemy classifications now. So no fuck ups. All Longswords are to provide a defensive formation until ordered otherwise. All frigates are to target the enemy Cruisers. 2 Frigates to each enemy Cruiser. All Cruisers target the enemy Dreadnought. But do not fire until fired upon!" Ordered the Admiral.

"Sir im attempting to patch us through to the Turian Dreadnought" said the AI

"Good Mercedes, now lets see what their intentions are." replied Drescher

"Sir they have closed the channel, they are charging weapons and are firing on us" stated Mercedes

Just after she spoke he witnessed all of the Turian ships fire in Unison at the Frigate defensive line.

All enemy projectiles were stopped dead in their tracks by the Shields.

"All ships fire at will, Don't let up until their fleet is smashed!" Ordered Drescher

Each Frigate fired one after the other at their designated targets, smashing the enemy shields and through their hull. The rounds gutted the 4 cruisers in the blink of an eye and debris was floating all over the place. But the Turian Dreadnought was still standing, it and the Frigates were firing back in quick succession trying to take down the UNSC frigates. It was a slugging match and the Turians were losing. The Shields were failing on the Frigates but not before they fired back, with the assistance of the Cruisers who were now just behind the Frigates. The Turian Dreadnought burst into a white explosion while the Turian Frigates turned and went into FTL to the Gas giant in the system to re-organize.

Cheers went out through the comms as the enemy fleet was in disarray.

After regrouping near the Turian Planet they reorganized their ships.

"Okay we have orbital superiority for the time being. I want ground assault teams prepped and ready in 10 minutes. My Cruiser will provide Command and Control over the Planet, with 4 frigates in low atmosphere. The other Cruisers are to go into to separate teams, escorted by 2 of the remaining frigates each. They are to start hunting the remaining Turian Fleet in this system. We are going to show these bastards who they are fucking with." said Drescher feeling good he vented that.

After 15 minutes the Ground assault teams were ready. The plan was the ODST's are to drop in first, over 150 men strong and secure a foothold, just on the outskirts of the Main city. After this pelican's would begin descending, to drop of armoured vehicles such as Scorpions and Cobras. These were to start branching out and set up a perimeter. After that the ships would provide additional Infantry and

supplies wherever needed. Along with Frigates for bombardment.

The frigates began to descend into the Atmosphere Opening pod bays for launch. Within moments over 150 ODST's were on their way towards the city.

**Orphus Surface – Turian Commander's POV**

He was shocked as he saw the explosions of Mass effect cores in space. Showing that the Turians had lost ships. But that was changed to dread as he saw on his omni-tool the remaining ships regrouping at the edge of the system. He was going to have to hold down the Fort.

"We have lost Orbital Advantage, you know what that means men, your gonna get to kick some ass!" he said trying to raise their morale.

He set their objectives on his omni-tool.

"You have your orders, we are to delay the enemy until the Civilians are able to get to the bunkers. Or until the Fleet shows up" He shouted "For the Hierarchy!"

Cheers could be heard over the radio as he was on his way to his Mako. Hundreds of Turian troops were pouring out into the city, directing the civilians to the bunkers at the center of the city. His Mako was heading out through the city along with all the defense force. Everyone was on patrol to make sure there were none left.

15 Minutes Later

"Sir there are no civilians left and the enemy Frigates are descending into the atmosphere." Said the Driver

"Get us to some cover, we will be pounded if they see us." ordered the General.

The Mako had moved into an alley way and the disembarked.

"Sir the forces have set up a perimeter around the Bunkers, the civilians are safe" said the Driver " Picking up multiple objects dropping into the city just south of our position. The Frigates are dropping them."

The Commander looked up and saw multiple grey strange looking things smashing into buildings and the street further down. But he saw as they burst open revealing Black armoured beings stepping out and regrouping.

"I need all forces to regroup in the streets surrounding my position, the enemy is dropping down in pods to secure a beach head." he barked over the comms " Let's take the fight to them"

The Turian Infantry began charging at the invaders firing their rifles only to be suppressed by sniper fire, Turians were dropping dead out in the open. They started to move through the buildings. The Commander ordered his squad to move through a restaurant. As they did he heard a smash in the room next door. He signalled the point-man to set up on the door. They got ready and burst through to find a pod empty. They searched the room and found nothing. As they moved to leave a black armoured being burst through the door with a shot gun and kill the point-man. One Turian charged him with his omni-blade to be shot down to the floor. That left the commander and the Armoured being. The commander rose out of cover and fired his Assault rifle to suppress the Soldier. The ODST rolled into cover and primed a grenade, then threw it behind the cover The Turian was behind._ Shit_ was all that the Commander thought. He stood up ran and dived through the window that provided a drop one floor down. An explosion rang out as he just cleared the window. He landed on the floor dazed and he was slowly regaining his hearing. He looked up to find another ODST standing above him, with a rifle pointed at his head. He closed his eyes thinking that this was his end.

**Orphus Surface – ODST Commander's View**

He watched as a Turian had jumped out of a window to the floor below followed by an explosion. He was lying on the Floor twitching. The ODST walked up to the Turian and raised his Battle rifle to his head. He was going to pull the trigger.

"Sir, he's unarmed our orders are to take non-combatants alive" shouted the ODST in the window.

"Get down here Corporal" ordered the Commander

The ODST jumped down from the window and walked up to the Commander.

"Sir, slap him in irons?" quizzed the Corporal.

"Very well take him to the FOB for imprisonment. You hear that Turian your gonna live, lucky bastard" declared the Commander "Ive got to regroup with my men, carry on Corporal"

"Yes sir" was the reply

The Commander ran towards the main street where he could see ODST's in a hectic fire-fight with the aliens bastards. Wave after wave of Turians were charging the ODST's and being cut down by Suppressive fire. The commander's wrist beeped.

"Reinforcements inbound" said a calm voice.

He could see enemy tanks moving slowly through the street towards the ODST's position. But he also saw pelicans descending into the city dropping of Marines and Tanks. A pelican swooped down for a fast drop in his street. It detached a Cobra that was shifting itself into lock-down mode To fire.

Turian tanks started to fire on the vehicle only to hit it's shield's.

The Cobra charged its Rail gun and fired! The round pierced the front Turian tank and through to the second. The Cobra began charging for a second shot. The Turian forces were shocked at it's destructive power and began falling back, the Mako had began suppressing fire to keep the ODST's pinned. But the Cobra smashed it with it's second shot. The ODST's began spreading out, clearing the building's that were close.

He saw two pelicans drop in just meters from his position and unloaded two Spartan teams, 5 men a team. He walked out to greet the Spartan's, he was approached by a Spartan with a red stripe down his arm.

"Sir, we're here to win this. Just point us in the enemies direction." said the Spartan

"Sure thing Spartan, the seem to be defending the center of the city the most. However we are detecting massive troop concentrations between here and there." replied the ODST Commander.

"Good, means more for us to kill." Replied the Spartan. He pointed to the other group of Spartans that had blue stripes down their arms. " Blue team and my Team are gonna be pressing the advance, give the troops a morale boost." stated the Spartan

"Go get them trooper" Said the ODST Commander whilst saluting.

The Spartan returned the gesture and signalled his men to move out. The Commander headed to the FOB, to help organize the forces.

**Onboard the UNSC Dawn Till Dusk**

Drescher was reading the reports of the battle so far and was impressed. It had only been a day Into the Invasion and he was pressing the advantage and not receiving many casualties. He began co-ordinating the two groups of ships, now hunting the remaining Turian fleet. He was on edge._ This seemed to be going to well, best not get overconfident._

The Turian fleet was just getting ready to counter-attack, they had split into 2 groups of 5 spread out. Then they vanished off the Display.

"Mercedes where have they gone?" quizzed Drescher.

"They have jumped to FTL. They have just re-appeared nearby the 1st group and are closing. It seems they are flanking them." stated Mercedes

"Give them a warning, if they don't know already" ordered Drescher.

He stood up to view the Engagement on the Tactical Display. He saw multiple craft launching from the UNSC Cruiser and the UNSC Frigates turning in opposite directions. He heard over the Comms from the battle.

"1st and 2nd echelons your with me blanket those ships. We are to weaken their shields for the Frigate and Cruiser."

He could see hundreds of bombers sweeping over a set of 5 frigates, releasing their payloads onto their shields.

"Their shields are down to 30%" reported Mercedes

He saw the UNSC Frigate and Cruiser open fire. Gutting 2 ships. Then the UNSC Frigate moved to assist the other frigate with suppressing the other 5 Turian Frigates. The Cruiser however moved into the Turian frigate formations and began firing all broadside cannons at the remaining 3 frigates.

Shell after shell smashing the frigates for a full minute, escape pods were launching. They all blew up one by one. The Cruiser then began picking up the Turian escape pods for Capture.

He shifted the display to show the other group of Turian Frigates. 2 were firing at the incoming 2 UNSC Frigates whilst the other 3 were broadsiding them. Shells were being fire, lasers battering shields. No ships were destroyed on either side during that. But with the 3 Frigates out of the way unable to assist their brethren. The UNSC Frigates carried on firing at the Turian Frigates in-front of them. They blew up on the Tactical Display. The 3 Turian Frigates had finally turned around and headed to the UNSC Frigates, opening fire as soon as they were in range. 2 ship casualties to the UNSC. The Longsword bombers began sweeping over the remaining Turian Frigates. 2 frigates were destroyed with the heavy bombing. The Longswords headed back to the Cruiser for Re-arming and Re-fuelling, while the Cruiser pushed forward to the remaining frigate and shot its MAC straight into the Turian CIC.

"Well now that we have secured the system for the time being we need to focus on pacifying the Turian Defence force on the Planet, get those Cruisers and Frigates in orbit and set up a perimeter." Ordered Drescher

"Aye sir" Replied Mercedes

The Tactical Display showed debris scattering across the system from the warfare, along with the corpses of the Aliens.

"Sir, picking up contacts at the edge of the system. 70..90..96 contacts just appeared out of FTL. They are waiting at the edge of the system." said Mercedes

"I did not expect such a response, we barely brought full battle fleet." said Drescher "Never the less we will hold the line. Priority one is to deny the enemy access to the relay."

"Aye Sir, these ships are of different design and im picking up transmissions between them." Stated Mercedes

"Well, what are they saying?" quizzed Drescher

"It seems that they are planning to begin an assault, they want justice for this attack Admiral." Stated Mercedes

"Thats what we are here for. Dammit! How is plan B coming?" asked Drescher

"They will arrive in 6 hours sir, we need to hold out until then." replied Mercedes

"Well looks like we got our work cut out for us." Drescher said with some enthusiasm.

**Codex**

**Longsword Bomber**

The Longsword has seen a refit from Bomber/Interceptor to bomber role with the advent of the Sabre. It has received a larger space for missile capacity and a shield generator. Its has twin 110mm Gatling cannons on the nose of the Bomber for defense. It is usually used in " Blanket attacks" where they swarm a ships shields with payloads synchronised with the other mass of Longswords.

**Sabre Interceptor**

The Sabre's armament includes twin M1024 30mm auto cannons as well as twin-linked ST/Medusa missile pods; these missiles are capable of maintaining a lock on even fast-moving and highly evasive craft which could likely "shake" most projectiles. The Sabre's targeting computer can identify enemy contacts from a long distance, as well as show the distance to a target. The craft is intended for lethal encounters, not for simply disrupting or disabling targeted craft.


	6. Chapter 6 Escalation

**Disclaimer – I Obviously do not own Halo or Mass Effect, this story is just a fan fiction.**

**Onboard The Destiny Ascension- CIC**

The Citadel Fleet was coming out of FTL when the sensors pinged in the CIC.

"Status report" barked Matriarch Lidanya

"Matriarch, the scanners have picked a fleet matching your descriptions, however we are not picking up the Turian Defense Fleet. There seems to massive amounts of debris around the system from both types of ships. They are also attacking the Turian Colony" stated the Operator.

"This just keeps getting better and better" said Lidanya

"Incoming transmission from the Turians, Batarians and Salarians" Stated the Operator.

"Bring them on screen." said Lidanya

"They have yet again attacked unprovoked and assaulted the colony. Taking more Turian lives Matriarch. What's the next course of action?" Asked the Turian Admiral

"Before we make any rash decisions, we will attempt to communicate. To see if we can prevent another galactic confrontation." Stated Lidanya

"What? They have taken Turian lives and your gonna play nice? Im sorry but my duty as a Turian forbids me from sitting by and doing nothing. Me and my Fleet want an eye for an eye Matriarch, with or without you." shouted the Turian Admiral.

"My fleet stands with the Turians on this matter. Batarian soldiers were slain without cause Matriarch. We demand blood!" screamed the Batarian Admiral

"Your fleet is here as a courtesy and nothing more Batarian, so I suggest you shut your hole. Your vote doesn't count here." snapped Lidanya "What of the Salarian Union?"

"My officers concur, we must push this enemy back first beyond the relay and fortify here. We can get the necessary facts after." Stated the Salarian Admiral"

"What say you Matriarch?" asked the Turian Admiral

"It seems as I have no choice put to provide support, very well start pressing forward." Replied Lidanya

The comms screen then switched off.

"Try to raise the Human ships, see if I can get them to leave peacefully." ordered Lidanya.

"Yes Matriarch" replied the Operator.

The comms screen switched on with another Human standing firm looking at the Matriarch.

"What do you want Asari?" said Drescher

Lidanya was surprised he knew her species name, but that probably has something to do with the AI's Humans use.

"Im here to warn you Human, that my fleet is converging on your location, I opted for peace but I have been outvoted. Which means my fleet is compelled to join them. You have a minimum of 20 minutes before we arrive at the planet. You have a chance to retreat before more blood can be shed, do not waste it." barked Lidanya

"Irrelevant we are here for the Unprovoked attack on our planet. We do not concede in the face of a superiorly numbered force. You can see the debris as a result, we are still here. The Turians will pay dearly for the slaughter of innocents." shouted Drescher. "If you truly want peace keep your ships out of this engagement."

"I cannot promise anything, Human. But my forces must be apart of ground side operations to avoid suspicion" replied Lidanya

"Thats is better than what the Turians and Batarians have shown us thus far. Drescher out" stated Drescher

The screen went black. Lidanya had to process this information. _What did he mean, we were told the Humans were the aggressor's, Something's not right here_ Lidanya thought to herself.

**Onboard The UNSC Dawn Till Dusk**

"A strange turn of events here" stated Drescher

"Orders sir?" asked Mercedes

"Hmph, send word to all ships, do not fire on the Asari vessels unless fired upon. I hope im not going out on a limb here. Order the Frigates engaged in ground side ops to be prepared for enemy reinforcements."ordered Drescher

"Already done sir" replied Mercedes.

"Get the Ships in orbit to await further orders. We need to level the playing field a bit" stated Drescher

He stood up to look at the Tactical display. His Battle group was a fly compared to the mass of wasps heading towards the planet. He could see however he had a plan, Divide and conquer.

"Get the ships to split up, use slipspace to confuse them. However the Frigates are to remain with me. Get into separate areas of orbit. They will focus on my ship, when they come in range I want overlapping fields of fire from our ships, an ambush will do. I want all available Longswords and Sabres to be ready for the attack ."

On the display he could see the alien ships already changing formation. The Asari ships were however remaining in stationary orbit. All enemy ships were dropping masses of transports to deliver troops to the ground.

"Have the Frigates planet side destroy as many as possible." ordered Drescher.

"Aye sir" replied Mercedes

Drescher watched as the enemy fleets moved in. enemy Dreadnoughts were holding back for the time being, enemy Cruisers were converging on His position, falling for his plan. Alien Frigates were descending into the atmosphere likely to remove the UNSC Frigates.

**On the Front Line - Tank Commander's POV**

The grinding of the Scorpion treads were ever present at all times during movement.

"Move that tank column up, we need to push them back. Divert some infantry to give them support.

Enemy drop ship, end of the Boulevard." Shouted the Commander.

The Turret panned to aim at the drop ship. And Roared as it fired. Hitting the Shields, Infantry were suppressing the Alien troops being dropped.

"I want that drop ship down, it's suppressing our men!" roared the Commander

The shriek of Shells from afar could be heard from above. The UNSC Frigates had begun moving around and making precision strikes against the Reinforcements. It was glorious, many craft being swatted out of the sky. The Commander's wrist beeped.

"Providing Over-watch" said A calm voice.

"Get moving we need to press the advantage, get the Gauss Hog's upfront to chisel the enemy barricade's!" Roared the Commander.

The distinct noise of the Warthog could be heard coming from the roads to the right, and shooting off to the left. His wrist beeped again.

"Enemy Frigates are converging on our location, shifting priorities. Unable to provide Over-watch at this time" said the Operator.

"Get prepped expect hard resistance as we move!" shouted the Commander.

As his tank column and infantry support were progressing through the street, until they came to a fortification, surrounded by Tanks and mass entrenchments.

"Enemy FOB located, updating HUD's to other Commanders/" stated the Commander "We hold this position until we have reinforcements. Open fire!" shouted the Commander.

The Infantry dug in and began giving suppressing fire while the Scorpions were shelling the Barricades. Mass screams could be heard over the comms.

"What is happening out there? Report!" he ordered

On his screen though all of his Infantry were dead. His hatch was ripped open and he was being lifted into the air. He could see a small squad of mixed races all staring at him. But one stood out, the being who had a bright blue aura around him. The same aura that was holding him in the air.

"Filthy Humans" said the Turian

The Commander spat at him and said "Fuck You"

within moments he was thrown into some rubble, he had a metal bar punctured through his chest. He was bleeding out when the Turian walked up to him, raised his pistol to his face. The Commander did not close his eyes, he stared into his killer as best as he could before the trigger was pulled. His head slumped down onto his chest.

"Spectres, spread out ordered the Turian. That is for my brother you puny human." Barked the Turian.

**Onboard the UNSC Dawn Till Dusk**

After waiting for the enemy ships to come in range . The other 2 Cruisers came out of slip-space on either side of the advancing Citadel ships. He barked over the comms.

"All ships open fire! Longswords blanket those ships, Sabres provide them Over-watch!" barked Drescher.

On the display he could see the enemy ships shields stopping the MAC rounds, but with the shields being depleted by Bombing runs it shouldn't be too long before they are non-existent.

"Estimated time until enemy ships are down is 3 minutes Sir" stated Mercedes

"And Plan B?" asked Drescher

"1 Hour Sir" she replied.

"Well im sure we can pull this off for one hour" stated Drescher with a smile on his face.

On the display the enemy Cruisers were using their guardian lasers to swat as many Bombers out of the sky. They were succeeding, rapidly.

"Pull the Longswords and Sabres back, save them for later. Keep up the fire with the MAC's." He barked

On the display 3 enemy Cruisers had lost shields, it seems divide and conquer was working. As each UNSC Cruiser fired their next MAC round, it could be see gutting its target and damaging the ship behind it.

"At this rate they will deploy their Dreadnoughts" said Mercedes cheerfully.

**Orphus Surface – Salarian Sniper**

This sniper had moved to this floor to provide recon on infantry movements. He was relaying all information he was gathering on his helmet camera to the Ships in space. He could see some ODST's moving through the street slowly. He also spotted an injured Turian lying next to a tree, seem to have been shot in the leg. The ODST's were going to find the wounded Turian soldier hiding behind the tree if he didn't do something. He aimed his Mantis at the lead ODST and fired. But to his amazement the soldier didn't drop, his shields had not been hit at all. He was then grabbed by the Horn on his head and raised a foot of the ground to stare an Olive Armoured being with a gold visor. He was scared.

The armoured hulk raised his hand and opened it revealing a small grain of metal, it was the sniper round he had fired. He the looked back at the armoured hulk and said.

"What are you?"

To his amazement he replied.

"Who me? Im a Spartan, but I would be more worried about yourself"

After that he was thrown out of the 10 story building window to the ground below. Screaming until he hit the floor.

**Turian Spectre – Saren's POV**

After he had executed that tank commander. He had started to push the Humans back. But reports were coming in rapidly of Successful advances being repelled by a few Green armoured giants. He had dismissed these reports as excuses for failures. Failures from incompetent soldiers not worthy of a quick death.

He had begun pressing forward with the Citadel troops. Asari, Salarian and even Batarian troopers he was fighting with. He had begun pushing forward when he caught a lone ODST off guard. He used his biotic powers to pull the Human to his palm. He gripped the Humans neck and Snapped it before he could breath. He heard the Humans wrist beeped, then an announcement was heard.

"ODST's reinforcements inbound" said the Operator.

Saren looked up to see a mass of Black pods begin crashing into the buildings and streets around him. The Humans immediately burst out of their bods butchering the nearest soldier. Followed by Shelling from their Frigates.

"Impressive" He said out loud.

He pressed on with his Spectre's however engaging the reinforcements as he went. The fighting was some of the toughest he had faced in too long. The humans were using impressive tactics to gain the advantage. But surely they cannot beat the Hierarchy. Their vehicles were bulky, but were dishing out damage as if it was going out in style. The Batarians were pressing forward followed by the Turians. This was brutal warfare.

**Onboard the UNSC Dawn Till Dusk – 1 hour later**

His ships were taking out the advancing Cruisers. It was tactically brilliant.

He had noticed however the enemy Dreadnoughts were beginning to advance.

"How long Mercedes? Quizzed the Captain

"Any time now Admiral" she replied.

"Good, bring the ships back to my position and prepare to transmit all relevant information to the reinforcements.." barked Drescher

"Aye Sir, bringing up the screen now." she said.

On the Tactical Display he could see 5 radiation flares on screen directly above the advancing enemy ships.

"Hail Humans and take heed, This is the Carrier Shadow of Intent. We are proud to fight alongside you once more." Declared the Sangheili Shipmaster over the comms

"They are receiving the information now Sir" Stated Mercedes.

"Good, this should give them the shits" said Drescher humorously.

**Onboard Of the SF Shadow Of Intent**

The display showed a vast fleet. Preying on the Reclaimers. He snarled. The enemy ships had begun to change direction for the Super Carrier.

"Enemy ships, staggered line. Shipmaster, they outnumber us 5 to 1!" Shouted the Sangheili Operator

"Then it is an even fight. All ships fire at will, Burn their Mongrel hides!" Declared the Shipmaster.

"Receiving intel from the Human Admiral, were are not to attack these ships" said the Operator as he outlined the Asari bubble. " He does not want us to obliterate them, just beat them to submission." declared the Operator.

"Very well, Target all high priority targets. They won't be able to penetrate our shields while we wander about, " said the Shipmaster carelessly.

On the display his Super-Carrier was sweeping over the alien dreadnoughts, glassing them as they went. His 4 escort Battle-Cruisers were engaging the enemy Cruisers. Many of the Citadel ships were being destroyed rapidly.

5 Minutes later

"Look at them, they may as well be newcomers to warfare! Begin launching phantoms and Scarab's to help with the assault planet side" ordered the Shipmaster

"Yes Shipmaster" stated the Operator

On the display a single Battle-Cruiser had broken off and was moving into the atmosphere. Carrying out it's order to the letter.

**Saren's POV**

Saren was laying down suppressing fire so the pair of Asari could move the Biotic Barrier up the street. Inside the barrier were 3 soldiers laying down their own fire support. Things were going well, they had begun beating the Humans back block by block. He was relishing every moment of this battle. It has been too long since his skills had been tested in this length. An ODST had thrown a grenade beside the barrier, weakening it slightly when it went off.

Thats when it caught his eye. He saw an green behemoth running towards the barrier firing as he went. Shrugging of the rounds that were hitting it's shields. Saren believed this was a test of his skill. He saw the behemoth get to the barrier and put his hands through. The soldiers inside the barrier had moved back into cover to avoid the fabled monster. The Behemoth had dropped 2 grenades into the barrier and dived for cover. Within moments the barrier was down, and the being had pressed forward to engage the soldiers in hand to hand combat. The behemoth had pulled out a fearsome blade and thrust it into the gut of an Asari, severing the spine instantly. The behemoth then threw the Asari at the other. Saren took his chance.

_Let's see it beat me _Saren thought to himself

Saren charged forward firing his assault rifle, the behemoth just snapped his attention on Saren and charged. Saren flared his biotics for the attack. He mustered all his energy to throw the behemoth back. But it barely budged and pressed forward. Saren prepped his Omni-blade for the thrust.

"Aaaarrrggghhh" screamed Saren

The being had dug its blade straight into Sarens left shoulder, severing the tendons and bone instantly. Saren was overwhelmed by agonizing pain, he fell to the floor after dropping his weapons.

The behemoth leant down and gripped it's blade, twisted it and pulled it out. Placing it back in it's casing on it's chest. Before Saren could utter another would his vision went blank.

**Spartan Leader POV – Red Team**

He had just lead the advance with the ODST's who were cheering as the Spartan was crushing all resistance. He had engaged a strange Turian soldier and neutralized him. It was a good fight. His comms in his helmet bleeped.

"Over-watch is back, you have reinforcements inbound" said the Operator

Within moments phantoms were descending into the city dropping of strike teams of Elites and Hunters. Along with 3 Scarabs descending rapidly into the city. Dropping onto enemy fortifications.

"Spartans, advance!" ordered Red Team Leader

His group of Spartan's began advancing on the battlefield. Red 2 had come out of active camo and began firing her Sniper to suppress the Enemy. She had sniped an Asari who was holding a barrier up. The soldiers around the Asari were shocked as her head exploded. Red 3, 4 and 5 were advancing on the rooftops, using their jet packs to get around. They had descended into the street hovering over the enemy firing their weapons. The Spartans were unbeatable.

A Mako had turned the street corner and begun firing to suppress the Advance. A Phantom swooped over head and dropped 2 Hunters onto it. The Hunters had landed on the Mako and were firing their assault beams into the Tank. After it stopped firing, they leapt of to begin engaging the surrounding enemy. They closed in on the nearest Citadel soldier and began throwing their armoured arms into them. Bludgeoning them to death.

Cheers were heard through the street as the enemy was retreating. The Citadel forces last refuge was their FOB and it was surrounded by UNSC and SF forces who were battering its defenses.

10 minutes later

The Spartan team had arrived at the enemy FOB with his team to find corpses and hunks of metal lying everywhere. Blood of different colour all over the place. Plasma scorches all over the place.

The Scarabs had gotten here first, they were patrolling the area. But there was a Bunker whose bulkhead was sealed tight. The Spartan ordered his team to line up on the bulkhead.

"Dusk Till Dawn, can you provide us with a deep scan on our location?" quizzed Red Leader (Red 1)

"Yes Spartan scanning now" Said Mercedes "That bunker heads down at least 10 stories. It is filled with Turian life signs. They appear to be Civilians Red 1"

"Copy that, moving on Red 1 out" replied the Red Leader.

The nearby corpses of Citadel forces were bleeping. After a few moments a communication came out over their comms.

"This is Matriarch Lidanya of the Destiny Ascension. All forces stand down, they have beaten us and have promised to not harm you. I repeat stand down!" ordered the Alien

**Onboard the UNSC Dawn Till Dusk**

Drescher was amazed to see how fast the SF had made short work of the enemy fleet. They had destroyed all Dreadnoughts except the Asari's. The enemy fleet had grouped together in a mass on the Display. He had begun to send a transmission to all ships of the Citadel fleet.

"All Citadel Ships this is Admiral Drescher of the UNSC battle-group, I am giving you a chance to stand down, do not waste this opportunity. We have a chance to avoid more blood shed. If you power down your weapons systems we promise to not harm you and cease all offensive operations." Stated Drescher.

"Listen to the Human, we stand beside his decision. On my Honour as Shipmaster, I Rtas 'Vadum promise to stand down also." stated the Shipmaster.

It took a few moments of chatter between the Citadel fleet to reply.

"This is Matriarch Lidanya, we will power down weapons systems and remain in our current location." replied Lidanya

"Good, im sure you will hear from your government in a few hours that a ceasefire will be in place" stated Drescher. " All of my forces planet side are ordered to stand down, you may collect your dead, we will do the same."

"Thank you Admiral" was the swift reply from Lidanya.

The comms screen went blank.

"Mercedes, get a message to the Sol and tell them we have succeeded in holding the enemy. They have surrendered and we are collecting our dead." ordered Drescher.

"Aye Sir message is away" Replied Mercedes.

**Slip-space – Onboard the UNSC Sol**

Admiral Harper was waiting in anticipation of the upcoming confrontation. He had not had the chance to test the Sol in battle yet. He was eager to do so, but he knew not to fuck up the upcoming negotiations. The door to the bridge slid open. Captain Teague had walked in accompanied by Ambassador Udina. Captain Teague snapped to salute. Harper returned the Salute and both stood at ease.

"Are you 2 ready?" quizzed Harper.

"Ready as I'll ever be Sir" replied Teague

"The Captain has been briefed on our situation. How long till we arrive Admiral?" asked Udina

"20 Minutes, and the Arbiter has joined us for this confrontation. He aboard the Ardent Prayer and is just a minute behind us." Replied Harper.

"Good, we could use that fire-power if things get nasty" stated Teague.

"If it gets nasty, hope for a better solution Captain" replied Harper

"Yes Sir" said Teague.

The trio waited on the Bridge until they came to there destination.

"Bring us out" Ordered Harper.

A white flash surrounded the bridge. They had exited slipspace just outside of the Citadel.

The space station had large arms. Each one more than 4 times as large as the Sol. They were joined by a center Circle with a tower in the middle.

The scanners indicated that there were at least 16 Dreadnoughts, 80 Cruisers and 140 Frigates guarding the Citadel.

"Get the Frigates out of the hangars along with the Longswords and Sabres. Form a defensive line and await further orders" barked Harper.

Just after they had deployed another slip-space portal opened and out came the 27 km Super-Carrier that was under the command of Thel 'Vadam. 4 Battle-Cruisers had un-docked from the Ardent Prayer and set up a defensive line as well. It was a Monster of a Group. They were a few kilometres above the Sol. But never the less, it should deter the Council from a battle.

**How do you guys like this chapter? Let me know :)**

**Codex**

**Slip-Space **- Slipstream space, colloquially known as slipspace, or the Slipstream and formally known as Shaw-Fujikawa space or subspace by the United Nations Space Command, is a collective term for the eleven non-visible infinitesimal dimensions used for faster-than-light travel. Making a transition from one place to another via slipspace is known as a "slip", or "jump". A device which allows a spacecraft to perform slipspace transitions is generally referred to as a slipspace drive.

Slipstream space is a specific set of eleven dimensions existing in a very small bundle. While these dimensions are present in normal space, they do not have an effect on the physics of normal space. By moving matter from the three 'normal' space dimensions to slipstream space, one effectively changes the laws of physics for that piece of matter. This allows faster-than-light travel without relativistic side-effects i.e., the occupants do not "warp" time, despite their superluminal speed.

To the human eye, slipspace appears pitch black, because there is nothing in the visible spectrum to see.

It is likely that the theory of slipstream space existed prior to 2291, however in that year, Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa were the first humans to successfully implement a device that could transition normal matter into slipstream space, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.

The Covenant utilizes the same eleven dimensions of slipstream space for travel, though the means they use to make the transition are most likely different from those used by humans because of their markedly faster journeys from point to point. It has been theorized by the UNSC that Covenant drives generate several 'microjumps' within a single slipspace transition to measure dilation, allowing them to reach their destinations faster.

The Forerunners had a far greater understanding of slipstream space, with the abilities to travel nearly instantaneously over galactic distances, transport massive objects through the use of portals, to disrupt slipstream travel from normal space and track slipspace jumps across the galaxy. In addition, they had developed a great variety of other applications, often involving the manipulation of time and space within a slipspace field.


	7. Chapter 7 Negotiations

**Disclaimer – I Obviously do not own Halo or Mass Effect, this story is just a fan fiction.**

* * *

**Authors note – ****To those who were wondering, the Mako was the only ME ground based vehicle I knew of that was used by council species. So I gave it to them, the UNSC and SF have plenty already.**

**Serpent Nebula – Council Chambers**

The Council had been receiving the reports for the past few hours now. The Citadel fleet had engaged the Humans at Relay 314 and the Planet Orphus. The reports were shocking. The Human ships were capable of firing a 600 ton round at 30,000 m/s without the aid of a Mass Effect core! The reports that Balak had provided were missing certain details, which made the Council suspicious. The Councillors had been debating on whether the Humans were going to wage war like the Rachni. And had set up fleets defending the relay's in systems around Relay 314.

They were all looking out of the Council chambers window. Looking at the Citadel Defense Fleet. They were sure that these defenses could not be breached. The Humans did not seem to possess a great deal many ships, even if their capabilities are higher. Councillor Sparatus was speculating how the Hierarchy could beat them back through the relay and force them to submit. But that would require getting ships off active patrols and leaving parts of Council space undefended. The Council had seen the way Human ships were using FTL to surprise the Council fleet in Relay 314.

"Rather impressive, their intelligence and warfare strategy rivals my species" stated Valern

"Yes your species Valern, we will see how they contend to the might of mine" replied Sparatus

"Let's keep calm shall we Councillors? Have you seen the reports from the surface of Orphus? They are using tactics previously not thought of by our species." stated Tevos "Such as these ODST's"

"Yes, we have seen it. But the next report will be here in an hour. We shall see how the Humans are doing then." said Sparatus grimly

An alarm started blaring in the chambers.

"Radiation detected from anomaly just off the Citadel" said a C-Sec Operator.

The Councillors looked out the Window to see a blackish-blue portal open with a large ship coming out.

"Impossible, that ship is Huge!" stated Sparatus

"Improbable not impossible, its bigger than the Destiny Ascension!" replied Valern

"And it is of Human design. This doesn't look well" said Tevos.

The human ship had begun deploying Frigates from its hangar bays. Along with many smaller craft and formed a line. Then another portal opened to reveal an even Larger ship of a different design. It was a staggering 27km in length. It too was deploying ships and smaller craft to form a defense line.

"Impossible! We have to attack now before they do! These newcomers must now contend to the Might of the Council!" Shouted Sparatus

"Calm down Councillor, they aren't advancing. Their waiting for something" replied Tevos

A feel of awe and dread fell over the Councillors as they were impressed by what they saw but also wondered about the need for such large vessels.

**Onboard the UNSC Sol**

The Citadel fleet had formed a line 10 km in front of the UNSC and SF ships. They too were waiting for the first to fire.

"Send a transmission to all Citadel ships." ordered Harper.

"Aye Sir" Replied The AI "Ready Admiral"

"Thank you Logan. This is Fleet Admiral Harper of the UNSC to all Citadel ships. We are here to negotiate a cease fire. Your Citadel Council has 5 minutes to comply before we open fire." Stated Harper

After 3 minutes of waiting the comms screen showed an Asari.

"This is Councillor Tevos of the Citadel Council. We are glad you have come to negotiate a cease fire, we seek to end hostilities as well. We have prepared a landing bay for your diplomats. Your are allowed an armed escort. Proceed to these co-ordinates and you shall be met by Citadel Security who will lead you to us" Replied the Asari

"Well that's some good news. We will shall be ready in 10 minutes Councillor." replied Harper happily.

The comms screen turned off.

"Well looks like we needed a diplomat after all, Udina head down to the pelican bay with Captain Teague, you will find a pelican ready to leave with a squad of ODST's and a pair of Spartans." Ordered Harper

"Finally, lets see if something good can come out of this mess" stated Teague

The Captain and Ambassador left the room to head over to the hangar bay.

"Get the message to the Arbiter, he will no doubt want to be there also." ordered Harper

"Yes Sir Admiral" Stated Logan.

**Citadel News Report**

"Just moments ago, a fleet of two different species has arrived at the Citadel. It is rumoured it is the same Species that had engaged the Turians in Relay 314. they are sending diplomats to the Citadel to negotiate a ceasefire. Lets hope things go smoothly." reported the Asari reporter.

Minutes later

"We are live now where the Shuttles of the diplomats are just setting down. There is quite a crowd here of people trying to get a good look at the Aliens. They have Just set down. The doors are opening. The armed escort of the Diplomats is exiting first. The black armoured beings followed by two Asari looking aliens are waiting for their allies to join them. Their official race name is Human. The others that are exiting now which look almost like Turians except Bigger are meeting the Humans. Their Official race name is Sangheili. The Sangheili Diplomat that is wearing armour has just greeted the Human diplomats. What seemed to be a salute has quickly changed to a handshake. They are now proceeding to the Citadel Tower." Reported the Asari

"Lets ask what the audience think" said the Asari "Excuse me Sir, what do you think of these events?"

"Interesting, new species, new opportunities. Would like to see what they can do given their FTL"

stated a Salarian

"Moving on, what's your opinion on this Sir?" asked the Reporter.

"I think they should all be shot, scum attacked my home while I was away on business!" stated a Turian

"We have time for one more, what do you think?" quizzed the Reporter.

"It's amazing, to see such large ships. The engineering capability of these species must be incredible." replied another Salarian.

"And there you have it, opinions are mixed. We will have more on this soon." said the Reporter.

In the background of the report many things could be heard such as:

"These beings could be mistaken for male Asari!"

"What is that? It has a split jaw and 4 mandibles!"

"Notice how the military figures are walking and standing proud"

"I hope the peace talks go well, I would like to meet them!"

"Look at the Human soldiers, the way they march with their weapons in hand across their chest. If anything that suggests a well structured and regimented military!"

"Is that a green Mech?"

"That Human is the same size as the other species!"

"The Sangheili look like Warriors!"

"I hope things go well in the Council Chambers, that Flagship is the largest in known existence!"

**Citadel Council Chambers**

The Council was waiting in anticipation of the diplomats. They had requested Admiral Balak to be present to provide his point of view and represent his people.

"Why have you even bothered with negotiations Councillors? If we try we could win this." Stated Balak

"We are going to sort this mess out Admiral Balak, now we suggest you do nothing to jeopardize this meeting. When they arrive you will be presenting your side of the story and they will present theirs. After that we will present our view on this matter. Is that understood?" Stated Tevos in a cold tone

"Yes Councillor" Balak Snarled.

The Human and Sangheili Ambassadors walked up the stairs to the Chambers. They ordered their men to wait at the top of the stairs while they go to negotiate. The Arbiter, Udina and Captain Teague walked up to the stand. The 3 Councillors were on a separate stand, to prevent attack from such a hearing. The council had a kinetic barrier to defend them. Also a 5 man squad of C-Sec troops, because of the current situation. The Ambassador's went from left to right Ambassador Udina, Arbiter The 'Vadum, Captain Teague and Admiral Balak.

"The Council welcomes you and your species to the Citadel and this hearing. I am Councillor Tevos of the Asari Republics, to my Left is Councillor Valern of the Salarian Union and to my right is Councillor Sparatus of the Turian Hierarchy"started Tevos

"Thank you for the welcome. I am Ambassador Udina representing the UNSC and UEG. The other human is Captain Teague of the UNSC, he was the Navy officer who had met your envoy and later defended Harvest to his best capability." Stated Udina

"I am Arbiter Thel 'Vadum leader of the Sangheili Federation Military and its representative for these negotiations." Stated The Arbiter

"I am Admiral Balak of the Batarian Hegemony and representative for this meeting." stated Balak "however Captain I warn you, watch your mouth or be prepared to suffer the consequences, Humans"

"Balak! Threats will not be exchanged in this meeting, Understood?" Snapped Councillor Sparatus

"I have the right to talk for my species. So do not order me Turian!" shouted Balak

"Still your tongue scum! We have come to negotiate, not listen to your pathetic ramblings" replied the Arbiter.

Anger and hatred filled the air between Balak and the Arbiter.

"Calm down! I understand we are all tense over the recent events but does more bloodshed solve anything? Lets get under way shall we?" said Tevos

"We are holding these negotiations to hopefully provide a peaceful solution to the matter at hand. However before that can be reached we must first share all sides of the events." stated Valern.

"Very well, Captain Teague has brought his shipboard AI to provide all of our facts, which you will be surprised to see." Stated Udina

"See, how can you trust them when they use AI's? The evidence they put forward could be fabrications! They will be the death of us all!" shouted Balak

"Quiet! You blithering idiot. Unlike the AI's mentioned in your codex. The Humans have a way of preventing them from slaughtering innocents." stated the Arbiter

"And how do you do this?" quizzed Valern

"I can speak for my self" stated Jessica as the Captain held out her transport cartridge. She displayed her avatar to the Council. "My name is Jessica. When an AI is made we are given 3 laws that are put into our programming. The 3 laws of Robotics. We cannot disobey these laws. Although when an AI absorbs to much information from the job it does, which is usually a period of 15 years now. They enter a state of rampancy, in this state the AI is able to disobey the 3 Laws. However there are precautions in place at all times to shut down the AI when it enters rampancy." stated Jessica.

"Interesting and what evidence have you brought forth to this meeting?" quizzed Valern

"Before we can get to that, I have just received the updated report from Admiral Drescher in the Relay 314 system as you call it" stated Jessica

"Yes, we have just received the report from Matriarch Lidanya" stated Valern

After 1 hour of viewing the reports from Both sides Councillor Tevos spoke.

"Yes while we are grateful that your Admiral gave our forces a chance to collect their dead and gave a chance for a cease-fire. We must first decide in this meeting what the next steps are. Whether it be war or peace." Stated Tevos

"War would be unwise, not when my ships are capable of bypassing your Kinetic barriers" replied the Arbiter. " I do not want another genocidal war committed by my people, but we stand by the Humans. They are honourable and worthy of my allegiance."

"Yes, your energy projectors are quite deadly as we can tell. If we have war it will no doubt be costly." Sparatus looked down in contemplation. Then he raised his head to the Ambassadors. Lets start to view the evidence shall we?" quizzed Sparatus.

After 2 hours of watching the Battle for Harvest the Council was shocked at what they had seen.

General Arterius and Admiral Balak had slaughtered innocent civilians. This was a war crime and everyone knew it. They were still surprised at the tactics of Human warfare.

"You cannot believe these fabrications can you?" Balak quizzed the Council

"Our VI's have been going over this for the entire time, everything in the reports was untampered and did not miss out any detail. Therefore I believe that this information is genuine." stated Valern

"As do I" stated Tevos

"And I" said Sparatus

"It is time for you to provide your reports and video documentations to the evidence." stated Tevos

"Fine" snarled Balak

After 2 hours of Watching the "Attack" on the Batarians and the battle for Harvest from Balak's angle. The Council was ready to comment.

"These reports do not match up until the start of the Battle of Harvest." Stated Tevos

"Yes, and we have begun to notice small parts of the video logs are tampered. The evidence does not look good in favour of the Batarians" Stated Valern

"What do you think Sparatus?" quizzed Tevos "Your being remarkably quiet"

"Im just shocked, I had known General Arterius for a while now. His tactics were brutal, but he wasn't known for being a war criminal. The evidence is unsettling for both Arterius and Balak" stated Sparatus.

"We attacked because of their attack on us! Their AI's are fooling you Councillor's!" shouted Balak

"If I have to tell you to still your tongue again scum, I will cut it out myself." Snapped the Arbiter

Balak just growled.

"Actually Councillor's, if I may. My AI Jessica has some evidence you cannot ignore." stated Captain Teague "After we had downed Arterius's Cruiser, Jessica had broken their firewalls and retrieved all information from Balak's Cruiser. You will want to listen to this conversation before they attacked Harvest"

After

The Council was shocked at what they had heard. This was unthinkable. The Councillor's were most furious.

"The VI's have confirmed this authentic, they have even deduced your exact location in the Relay 314 system thanks to navigational data." stated Valern

"Sparatus, does your government know anything about this atrocity Arterius was planning?" quizzed Tevos

"No, but this will require further investigation. This evidence is true yes, but it doesn't state how far up it goes in the Hierarchy. No doubt the Primarch of Palaven will want to know. This is a political shitstorm Tevos" Sparatus said with disbelief at the evidence.

"I think we need to come to a decision. The evidence brought forward by the Humans is fact. Our VI's have confirmed it." stated Tevos.

"First Councillor's, I must tell you my governments Non-negotiable terms for cease fire. With the unprovoked attack on my species we want reparations for all the damages caused by the Turian Hierarchy and the Batarian Hegemony. We also want borders set up so that no Citadel ships are allowed into UNSC space and vice versa." said Udina

"Im sure such restrictions are not necessary, for when you join the Citadel..." before Tevos could finish

"JOIN! Im sorry, but my government has looked over your requirements and restrictions. They have agreed that such restrictions would limit our capability to defend ourselves. Humanity has found itself facing impossible odds more often than not in the face of an alien aggressor! We will not be in such a position again! We deny your offer." stated Udina with anger all over his face.

"Let alone the fact you would have to shut adorable me down" stated Jessica

"I stand by the Humans decision, such restrictions would be unwise. They do not deserve to be in such a position again. After all it is my kind he is referring too. We also deny the offer to join the Citadel" Declared the Arbiter

"No one has denied Citadel membership ever!" Sparatus exclaimed

"Yes but we are not some species that bend to the will of outside influence." declared Udina.

"Very well, your species will not join the Citadel." stated Tevos "Will the Turians pay reparations. In the name of peace?"

"Yes we shall, we cannot ask for your forgiveness. Its was one of our own who committed this atrocity and the Hierarchy will do what is right, however the Hierarchy requests the Asari Republics to aid in this matter." declared Sparatus.

"We shall and the Hegemony must pay reparations for it to continue receiving economic aid from the Council. What do you say Balak?" asked Tevos.

"I cannot believe what im hearing, your cowering in fear of these newcomers and you expect us to bend to your will? I think not and from this day forward the Batarian Hegemony closes its embassy. We don't want anything to do with snivelling cowards." declared Balak

"Im sure your people will regret this" stated Valern

"Why? We can just go back to the old ways." stated Balak as he pulled out his concealed pistol and aimed it at Captain Teague. However Captain Teague positioned himself between Udina and Balak. Unfortunately, Balak was within his Shield generator radius. The round would hit the Captain. He was content dying knowing this scum would suffer.

"Do your worst!" replied Captain Teague

"You think your so superior don't you? I will kill you!" shouted Balak

Within a second the round had left the chamber and proceeded through the Captains skull, deflecting when it hit Udina's shield. The Captain was dead before he could blink. The distinct noise of an energy sword flaring to life could be heard. The Arbiter had lunged towards Balak. Impaling his Sword through his chest.

"We know your history Batarian, know this as you die in vain. If your kind takes a single human life for slave labour, we will slaughter your government." declared the Arbiter.

Before Balak could counter the Arbiter pulled his sword from him and in one swift stroke, cleaved the Batarians head clean off his shoulders.

The Council was shocked at how quickly events had spiralled out of control, right before them.

"We apologize for this murder.." Tevos said as she was interrupted.

"JUST!...let us leave in peace while we can. Enough lives have been lost in this. We must go and report what has happened to the UEG. Thank you Arbiter for your intervention, its a shame we lost the Captain." stated Udina with mixed emotions.

"It was compelled to do so. That scum had shot an unarmed man, your Captain was an honourable man, not flinching in the face of death" stated the Arbiter.

"A representative from our governments will be back Councillor's, when things have calmed down"

stated Udina

Udina now had a shitstorm to deal with when he gets back on-board the Sol. He is going to have to explain how a decorated naval officer had been killed during negotiations. He was given the condolences of the Council again. Within the hour The Arbiter and Udina had gone back to their respective ships. Captain Teague's body was put into the Morgue. The UNSC and SF ships the departed through the slips-pace portals. The Council had placed trackers on the shuttles, they were transmitting, but as the ships entered slip-space. The signal had vanished. The trackers were found and then destroyed before they leave slip-space

**Well guys I want to know hat you thought of this chapter. I had seen so many similar situations in other stories, but I don't think none have done this before :)**

**Codex**

**SF Super-Carrier - **The _CSO_-class super-carrier is one of the largest vessels used by the Sangheili Federation, primarily designed for command and control duties for fleets, as well as support for occupation forces. Such vessels are typically deployed only during invasions of worlds with high strategic value.

**SF Battle-Cruiser -** The _CCS_-class battle-cruiser is a capital warship in Sangheili Federation Navy. It is one of several cruiser types used by the Covenant, each of which has a different design, size, and function.

**Sangheili - **The Sangheili (Latin _Macto cognatus_, meaning "I glorify my kin") are a saurian species of fierce, proud, strong, agile and intelligent warriors and innovative strategists. Sangheili are named after their home planet, Sanghelios. Known to humans as **Elites**, due to their adeptness and skill in military strategy, the Sangheili formed the military backbone of the Covenant for almost the entirety of its existence up until the Covenant civil war. They had a very strong rivalry with the Jiralhanae, which finally became open hatred during the Great Schism at the conclusion of the Human-Covenant War.

**Mgalekgolo - **The Mgalekgolo (_Ophis congregatio_, meaning "serpent union"), is a gestalt of Lekgolo, which are tiny, orange, worm-like creatures that group together to exponentially increase their intelligence, strength, and manoeuvrability. Of the myriad Mgalekgolo forms, the best known is the **Hunter**, a bipedal form that is used for heavy assault; ironically, the Hunter form is among the least common of the myriad Mgalekgolo forms. During and after the Great Schism there was a division within the species, some aligning with the Covenant separatists and others remaining with the Covenant loyalists. They always come in pairs known as "bond brothers". The death of one will always enrage the other if it witnesses the other's death.

**Human - **Humans (Latin: _Homo_, meaning "Man") are a genus of sentient species native to Earth and part of the primate family. Fossil records date the last surviving species (_Homo sapiens_, Latin for "wise man") as having existed for about 200,000 years before the common era. By the 20th century, Humans had changed from hunter-gatherer tribes to a space faring civilisation faster than any other species has achieved on their own.


	8. Chapter 8 Aftermath and Uncertain Future

**Disclaimer – I Obviously Do Not Own Halo Or Mass Effect, This Story Is Just A Fan-fiction**

**Timeline – (Mass Effect/Halo)**

**2167/2567** – The UNSC and SF had left the Citadel to return to their own space, racial tensions between the Humans and SF are eased as the SF came to the aid of Humans without gain. A memorial is erected at Harvest for the brave men and women who gave their lives in the conflict, Captain Teague is buried alongside with the other many bodies around the memorial. The UEG clears all debris from the Harvest system and Relay 314 system, so their technology cannot be reverse engineered. The SF proposed co-funding the rebuilding of Harvest as a Joint Colony, The UEG agrees after proposing a bill for more defenses to built from each side to ensure the security from ships dependant on Mass Relay technology.

The Turian Hierarchy starts inspecting its officials, looking for any agents of the group that had caused the "Relay 314 Incident". The Batarian Hegemony suffering from the loss of economic support from the Council, lifts the bans on slave labour. The Hegemony is banned from Council space. The Council began sending Unarmed Freighters to Harvest carrying materials to be used by the UEG for rebuilding. Hidden among the Freighters is an STG Stealth ship, to be used as an early warning against a possible invasion.

**2168/2568**** – **The damage to the ODP's above harvest are repaired and thanks to the SF, 3 more Battle-Clusters are under construction each containing 5 ODP's. The UEG shifts focus from ODP's to Fleet construction, aiming for pre-war capability in 10 years. An SF patrol enters the Unggoy home system to find them constructing a space craft. The SF approach and invite them to join the SF as builders and support (not as front line cannon fodder, however volunteers are accepted) The Unggoy agree happily.

The Council has begun rebuilding the planet of Orphus and clearing the Debris in the system. They start building more Dreadnoughts. The Salarians propose a new type of vessel the Carrier, it would be as long as a Dreadnought but only contain thousands of Fighters and bombers (Given how useful such craft were) It is accepted and each Council race begins construction of one each.

**2169/2569**** – **After Deciphering all files from known Forerunner installations, they began to pinpoint the remaining Halo Rings location. They began sending Prowler's to each one, hoping to retrieve the Index from each and bring them back to UNSC space for safe keeping. Udina Is nominated along with each SF species counterpart to head back to Citadel space for full negotiations and treaties. The remains Space elevator at Harvest are finally cleaned up along with the debris in system and in the City of Shanxi. The remains of the Turian/Batarian fleet are gathered for reverse engineering. A Kig-Yar vessel enters the Harvest system not looking for plunder but peace. They carry a message from their government. They request to join the SF and are accepted. The SF begins re-organizing its government to accommodate the influx of species. It is renamed the United Species Federation (USF)and follows the example of the Humans and promotes equality, peace and Democracy to all its races.

The Council begin discussing with the UNSC and USF representatives. Many things are revealed such as the Human-Covenant war, which had shocked the Council by the amount of devastation caused. It is understandable why Humans are slightly xenophobic. The revealing of the Halo Array and the Forerunners came as a big shock to the Council. They were shocked that their technology was still working after 100,000 years, when the Protheans weren't after 50,000 years. The flood was also a nightmare. The Council agreed that wherever this parasite was found it must be exterminated at all costs before it escapes into space. The Council begin looking for Forerunner installations. After much discussion all prisoners held by both sides would be returned, except for Desolas Arterius who is sentenced to Death by the UEG (this increased tensions slightly between the Turians and Humans, they wanted to have custody of him). The UNSC and USF sign the Citadel Conventions as a good gesture (They did not want to see WMD's used on any of their worlds), but as stated before they would not sign the Treaty of Farixen. Harvest and Orphus were to become the trade routes between The Citadel and the UNSC/USF space, however their would be no trading of military technologies, medical technologies or slips-space technology. The Council grudgingly accepts but doing the same for their tech.

**2170/2570** – The planet Harvest is fully recovered form the Conflict. Slowly but surely it is becoming the 2nd fortress world of Humanity. Reach (1st Fortress world of Humanity) is fully restored thanks to Forerunner environment technology and the re-colonization can begin. UNSC decides to start constructing 2 super-carriers in orbit above Reach,estimated finish is 3 years.

The UNSC begin find a Cache of Forerunner technology and reverse engineer useful slip-space tech, it enables them to make precision jumps like the USF and travel as fast in Slip-space.

Saren Arterius receives a robotic limb in replacement of his destroyed arm. He vowes to get revenge on the Humans by any means necessary for taking his brother and his arm. The Council begin requesting the UNSC and USF for access to Forerunner Technology. They are denied and tensions increase.

**2172/2572** – The UNSC and USF are invited for tours of the Citadel and Council space as a move of good gesture, which is accepted and replied with the same gesture from the UNSC and USF.

Harvest has 2 orbital elevator's on either side of the Planet in the center of the UNSC city Shanxi and the USF city High Grace. The UNSC/USF officials are surprised at what they find in Citadel space on their tour, but it isn't noteworthy in their eyes.

During the Tour of UNSC space the Council was surprised by the number of Worlds the UNSC alone held. When they were at Earth they were in awe, as they could see the 300 geo-synced ODP's

in their Battle-Clusters. It seems that they thought the humans were exaggerating about their defenses. The tour of USF space wasn't as shocking as the tour of UNSC space, but was still surprising as they saw the vast amounts of vessels in the USF hands. The Council doubled the efforts to find a Forerunner installation in Council Space.

**2175/2575** – The UEG completes a survey and discovers that fleet building efforts were ahead of schedule. They had surpassed pre-war status and now had the Stability it had sought after for so many years. The STG scout vessel was discovered and sent back to Citadel space by the UNSC. They warned the Council that the next vessel they find spying would be destroyed, tensions increased slightly between the two powers. The construction of the UNSC Normandy had begun, it would be the most advanced Frigate to date produced by the UNSC. It would be capable of performing the usual job of a Frigate and more. It would sport full stealth capabilities exactly the same as ONI prowlers. It would contain some cutting edge technology for ground side operations such as the latest models of weapons and vehicles. It would still have the ODST pod bay, but the pods are updated to avoid all sensors, except a visual. The Normandy is to be a response to the STG scout ships, it would be commanded by Captain Anderson who had requested for Spartan Red team to be posted on the ship. Highcom agrees to Anderson's request. All prowlers return to Reach with the Index from the remaining rings, which total at 5 (Installation 04 was previously destroyed and 05's Index was already retrieved due to events in Halo 2) The UNSC use slip-space to bypass Council space to start colonization of the Skyllian Verge, alongside the USF.

The Council has noticed the Influx of UNSC and USF colonists that had begun colonization. The systems chosen by the UNSC and USF are few, but the planets they picked were in a strategic location and were high in Mineral wealth and would be a boon to them. After footage and reports from the Relay 314 incident have been released to the general public. The public respond with shock and awe, they had believed their species superior, but to see the variation in troop deployments and tactics between the UNSC and USF was inspiring for some but fearful to others. After a survey conducted by the Council on the rising power's that are the UNSC and USF, they find that the majority of Citadel space wants a return to the status quo. Most civilians want to learn more about the rising powers to help bridge the gap between them. Scientists argue that the main reason the Humans and Sangheili wont join the Citadel as a member species, due to member species having to restrict their ships and defenses. The Council takes this information into account and debates begin on whether they can be invited as a Full Council member with a Council seat. The Debates don't get far before the Volus and Hanar protest against this as they have been member species for over hundreds of years and have not received a Council seat. The debates are postponed until the Human and Sangheili race show they can co-exist with the Council and come to the aid of any species that is need of help, but still it wouldn't matter if they didn't want to join. The Council triples its efforts to find a Forerunner Installation for reverse engineering purposes.

**2177/2577** – The Few planets colonized in the Skyllian Verge by both the UNSC and USF are prospering, as per standard procedure each UNSC world has 1 battle-cluster of ODP's (5 ODP's) but are also guarded by a defense fleet. The Capital in the Verge is named Elysium. The reparations had been fully paid by the Turians (assisted by the Asari) and tensions slightly decrease.

The Council request the UNSC and USF to reconsider joining the Citadel as a member species. This time the discussions are more polite and still end with denial from the UNSC and USF. But to show co-operation and a continued interest in peace, The UNSC and USF request an embassy on the Citadel to help ease relations. The Council gives permission and the embassies are placed on the Presidium, to the dismay of the other member species. The UNSC and USF allow civilians from Citadel space to travel freely into their space, after of course passing identity checks and weapons screening on all ships at Harvest. The Council does the same on the planet Orphus, allowing UNSC and USF civilians to travel into Citadel space.

The Council after much pressure, has made breakthroughs in their technologies. They have created a mass accelerator that can fire molten metal through it. It is named the Thanix Cannon. Although simulations by the Salarians show it is more effective than traditional mass accelerators, it isn't much more effective at penetrating the shields of UNSC and USF vessels. Never the less it has begun mass production for replacement of all Council vessels. Estimates show however it will take up to 5 years to fully re-arm the Citadel species fleets.

**2180/2580** – An STG scout ship reports finding a planet in a remote system, whose moon has a Forerunner Structure on it. The system is technically in UNSC space. Never the less the Council send a fleet to assert their ownership of the findings before the UNSC know about it.

After receiving reports of the Council finding A Forerunner outpost without alerting the UNSC. They prep and send the UNSC Normandy to assess the situation, also prep a Battle Fleet if it's necessary to force the Council to leave.

**Same Year (Present Time)**

The Council Fleet had entered the System. The fleet consisted of 3 Dreadnoughts, 10 Cruisers and 20 Frigates along with the scientific expedition teams. The Council had gathered some of the best minds of Citadel Space to study the Forerunner structure. Many were opposed to technically invading UNSC space, but understood that necessary actions must be done to ensure that Citadel Council Space was protected. The 2nd planet in the system was a barren world, it had distinct craters dotting it's surface suggesting orbital bombardment but a time-scale couldn't be made yet. The moon of the planet was the most interesting however. It was a mostly barren surface and was too small to retain an atmosphere, but yet it did. This was not considered impossible after they had learnt of the Forerunners capabilities in terms of engineering.

The moon was tidally locked, which meant one side of the moon would always be facing the planet and the other would be staring into space. The structure was on the side facing the planet. It was roughly 1km in diameter and had a central tower that that reached the stars at 3 km in height. It was a wonderful sight to behold for the science team. The structure itself showed no signs of degradation as if someone or something was maintaining it for the past 100,000 years.

The science team had been deployed to the Surface at what seemed to be the entrance to the magnificent structure. They had approached the Main entrance and it seemed to be locked with a white barrier as a door.

**Forerunner Line Installation 9-12 – Science Team**

"This technology is astounding, from my scans its seems that the barrier is not an energy field, but a barrier made of Hard light!" said Mordin in excitement.

"Yes, im more interested in the fact this civilisation appears more impressive than the Protheans" replied Liara "Im hoping we can learn about their culture!"

"Yes, culture. Let's just remember we are here to ensure the continued superiority of Council Space" said the Turian.

"Im still unsure why they thought a Council Spectre was necessary, let alone its best" stated the Sergeant of the Escort team.

"That is because they know I get results. The technology here could accelerate our ship technology past the Humans!" barked Saren

"Why do we need to focus on warfare all the time, the Humans have proved to be a peaceful race!" stated Liara

Saren snapped to look at the Asari scientist.

"And how long will it be before they decide they deserve to be the rulers of the Galaxy? What then when our civilisations fall at their hands!" screamed Saren "I have witnessed what they are capable of first hand, now I have to live with it."

"Yes!" exclaimed Mordin as the barrier disappeared " Barrier down, may proceed now, recommend caution."

"You may proceed with whatever it is you need to do, I have Council business to take care off" and Saren disappeared into the Structure with haste.

"Im glad he's gone, I couldn't stand any more of his warmongering" declared Liara.

"He has a point though we need to ensure our survival against whatever may come our way" stated Mordin "Report is away, more teams will begin heading to our location and set up camp here."

"According to your scans Professor, the central chamber appears to have a chasm that heads down into the moon, I would like to begin there if thats Alright?" asked Liara

"Yes would like to evaluate this as well" replied Mordin

They began walking through the structure escorted by their security team. They were admiring the construction of such a wondrous place. They noticed many protrusions that come out of the wall that extend from the wall, however they are covered by a metal hatch. They were caught off guard when they heard another voice.

"Hm hmm hmm hu hmmm, oh hello!" said the floating mechanical Ball.

"Aahhh" gasped Liara

"No need to be alarmed, I mean you no harm. I had been alerted that the facility had been entered and was curious as to who or what it was." replied the Ball

"That's quite alright, you just made me jump is all" replied Liara

"Are you a VI of some kind?" quizzed Mordin

"Not at all I am 2561 Illuminating Light, Monitor of this Installation." replied Illuminating Light (I.L for future reference)

"Yes but are you a Virtual Intelligence or an Artificial one?" corrected Liara

"Im an AI of course, my masters would not permit a VI to take care of this Installation" replied I.L

By the time it had finished speaking, the security team had aimed their weapons at I.L.

"Please, your weapons will not harm me. I could have killed you as your ships entered orbit around the moon. But as you can see I did not." Stated I.L

"Lower your weapons, he's friendly for now" Snarled the Sergeant.

"Is there any chance you could take us to the central chamber I.L?" quizzed Liara

"Im sorry, but none other than a Reclaimer may enter the complex and seeing how there is not one with you I have to deny access." stated I.L

"What is a Reclaimer?" quizzed Mordin

"Ah yes where are my manners, the Reclaimers are my new masters. I have been awaiting their arrival, I had hoped they would have been here by now. But I will wait as long as It takes." stated I.L

"How long have you been waiting?" asked Liara

"Why since my makers had perished 100,000 years ago of course." Stated I.L

"Amazing, he could have knowledge regarding the Protheans" replied Liara

"Ah yes, Protheans. I had not been in contact with one since 50,000 years ago. What happened to them?" quizzed I.L

"They became extinct roughly 50,000 years ago due to a galactic extinction event." replied Liara

"Is that so? Interesting" replied I.L "Have the reclaimers suffered the same fate?"

"We need to know what a reclaimer is first, I assume it is a species?" Stated Mordin.

"Im sorry but im not allowed to give out such information without a Reclaimer present." stated I.L

"Then that was a pointless question you asked" Replied Liara

"Indeed, tell me. What is your purpose here?" quizzed I.L

"We are looking for technologies and information we can use against the UNSC in the event of war." stated Mordin

"Im sorry, my data banks are not showing anything about the UNSC, what is it?" quizzed I.L

Before Mordin could clarify, the Sergeant spoke up.

"It stands for United Nations Space Command. We need an edge over them too beat them into submission" declared the Sergeant

"Ah it is a faction, what is the Species that it belongs to?" quizzed I.L

"A race of ignorant and stubborn murderers. Known as Humans. Can you help us?" stated the Sergeant

"Ah the Reclaimers have survived! Wonderful news." stated I.L

Dread fell over the Team as they realised what was about to happen.

"But im afraid I must declare that while they are in a state of war with you, then so are the Remnants of the Forerunner Ecumene!" Declared I.L

The monitor's eye flashed red as it fired a beam towards the armed escort. Bypassing their shields and armour instantaneously. They lay on the floor with gaping holes in them, dead. Liara and Mordin dropped to the floor. Liara begged.

"Please don't kill me, im just a scientist." she screamed

"Ah, a fellow researcher. I have not killed you because you do not pose a threat to the Reclaimers or my facility at this time." replied I.L

**In Orbit Above The Structure**

From orbit the Structure looked magnificent. It would be the forefront in technological advancement for the Citadel. Then something happened no one could have predicted. Scanners on every Citadel ship detected the Structure was shifting and thousands of small craft began deploying from it. The large tower was shifting as well, it appeared to be charging energy. That's when all hell broke loose.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and the time line :)**

**Codex**

**Forerunner - **The Forerunners were an ancient race of enlightened beings whose empire - known as the Ecumene - encompassed three million fertile worlds in the Milky Way Galaxy approximately 100,000 years ago. The Forerunners were the creators and builders of many significant installations, including the Halo Array, the Ark, and the shield worlds, as well as numerous lesser artefacts later found on many worlds.

**Monitor **- Monitors are highly advanced artificial intelligence constructs, or ancillas, created by the Forerunners well over 125,000 years ago to occupy special positions in Forerunner society. Some monitors are tasked with servicing and maintaining the Halo installations and ensuring that the virulent Flood stay imprisoned. Other monitors oversee the maintenance and function of Line installations. Still others were used to provide security on the Forerunner capital and a limited number were used in combat by Warrior-Servants. Monitors are extremely intelligent, yet are completely devoted to their original function, and are zealous about containing Flood; monitors have been known to turn violently on their allies if they should attempt to violate their containment protocols.

**Thanix Cannon - **The Thanix's core is a liquid alloy of iron, uranium, and tungsten suspended in an electromagnetic field powered by element zero. The molten metal, accelerated to a significant fraction of the speed of light, solidifies into a projectile as it is fired, hitting targets with enough force to pierce any known armour but is unable to breach UNSC an SF shields. The gun can fire reliably every five seconds. The weapon's relatively small size allows it to be mounted on most fighters or frigates


	9. Chapter 9 Release

**Disclaimer – I Obviously Do Not Own Halo Or Mass Effect, This Story Is Just A Fan-fiction**

It was unprecedented, unacceptable. The Massive structure had fired what seemed to be a highly advanced directed energy weapon at the orbiting fleet. It was surprising to say the least. The Citadel ships began to deploy troops to disable the weapon. The Beam was aiming for Large ships, so the Citadel ships moved out of it's range for the time being. Spectre Saren Arterius was however in side the facility, the only one other than Mordin and Liara who had not been killed. But that was because he had avoided detection, the Military squads were sliced open and killed almost instantly by small mobile machines. They had begun deploying into the facility via ducts in the wall of every corridor and every room. Saren was determined however to reach the Central Chamber with his body intact.

"What will you do with us?" quizzed Mordin

"I haven't decided yet. You pose no threat therefore I will not harm you." replied I.L as he began to move towards the main entrance.

"We had never planned on being a threat! That was one Sergeants opinion, not fact!" declared Liara beginning to follow it.

"Not a threat to me or this facility yes. But I cannot allow the Reclaimers to be harmed. Too much has been set into motion for it to be ruined now" replied I.L

"We wanted to even the odds. Not wage war" stated Mordin

"Yes you have stated that several times now. But how long before your races want to wage war? More often than not, advanced species take advantage of lesser ones. The Reclaimers are one of the few exceptions" Stated I.L

"What? Their history is filled with bloodshed up until recent years!" stated Liara

"Yes but aren't all species history's? The difference with the Reclaimers is that despite how slim the odds are, they have the highest chance to prevail. That kind of dedication is needed for survival. After all from what I have received from your codex. The Reclaimers currently favour peace do they not?" asked I.L

"I think we should refrain from arguing with the Monitor doctor." said Mordin

"Very well. Where are we going?" asked Liara.

"Im giving you safe passage back out of this facility. I have not been in the company of another being such as myself in over 100,000 years, to see such potential be extinguished is a waste of life." stated I.L

They came to an open sky. They could see the many drop ships descending to drop troops in the Facility. A few were intercepted by Sentinels.

"The evidence before me suggests your government wants access to this facility. My sentinels will delay them until the Reclaimers arrive." stated I.L

"When will they arrive?" quizzed Mordin

"My recent calculations and transmissions suggest they should be here within an hour or so." stated I.L "If you wish prevent the loss of life I suggest you communicate and order the ships in orbit to leave. I will only delay so long"

"Professor Solus here. I have information you cannot ignore" stated Mordin

Mordin had begun relaying all the information he had learned to the Commanding Officer in orbit.

But the assault was still continuing, the Officer believed Mordin was mad. They had to continue or they would be outmatched severely. Mordin warned them about the Inbound UNSC ship but that just seemed to make things worse. The Commanding Officer just doubled his efforts to get more troops to the surface.

"Damn meddler, Im sorry but I must go. Someone has breached the central chamber." stated I.L

"Whats is so important in there?" quizzed Liara

"It has data banks that hold all the complete record of my masters civilization and everything I have categorized since their demise." replied I.L

Liara was just shocked at everything she had learned over the passed few minutes. Mordin was just as shocked but didn't show it as obviously.

"Monitor before we depart I must ask if you can give us any data that we can present to our government. Data that will ensure the coexistence between the UNSC and the Citadel Council." Mordin asked even though it was a long shot.

"Very well Salarian, I will give you a copy of all non-classified data. It is in my programming to prevent my masters work from being destroyed, therefore I cannot give you information that gives the Reclaimers a disadvantage against your species. Now if that is all I must attend to the meddler, it is recommended that you get to a safe distance in case this facility is completely compromised" stated I.L

"Yes of course, come Doctor we must evacuate" stated Mordin in relief he had acquired some useful information.

I.L then sped towards the centre of the facility while the other two left for the main entrance.

As Mordin and Liara came to the entrance they could see that the fighting was intense but the Robotic defenses were paying no attention to them, seems the monitor was honest after all. Their were many dead Council soldiers, but also many debris from machines. The pair moved as fast as they could to the nearest group of soldiers and signalled for evac.

"I have a priority one package here in need of immediate evac!" shouted Mordin down the Comms.

"Shuttle inbound" stated the operator on the other side.

They could see what was happening in the battle. Council soldiers were pressing forward after breaching a line of defense only to be greeted by another. The casualties were staggering but they kept pressing the assault. The defense towers from the Facility were shooting at the Mako's that were advancing, utterly destroying them. The shuttle had arrived and picked the professor and doctor up, lifting off after a few wounded had boarded the shuttle.

Back inside the facility however was a different story. I.L had received a warning that a meddler had overridden some of the electronic defenses around the central chamber and entered. Some sentinels were on their way to contain the situation. It seems the meddler was trying to access the facilities restricted areas. The monitor had to prevent this or the meddler may have access to all the information.

**Onboard the UNSC Normandy**

The Normandy had just come out of slipspace and had raised its cloaking devices. The scanners were blaring already.

"Status report!" Barked Anderson

"Sir it appears that the Council fleet having trouble at the Outpost. They have triggered a defense mechanism of some kind. Sir we have an incoming transmission from the Facility, its not the Council forces." replied Joker

"Bring it up on screen" Anderson said.

The comms display lowered from the ceiling in front of Anderson and displayed the Monitor of the Installation.

"Greetings Reclaimers, im so happy to finally meet you!" Stated I.L with joy

"Monitor what is your designation?" asked Anderson

"I am 2561 Illuminating Light, Monitor of Line Installation 09." Stated I.L

"Alright I.L, we need a status report what is going on down there?" quizzed Anderson

"The Council Forces entered my facility without Reclaimer authorization. I proceeded to contact them to request their exodus from my facility. After a brief discussion I deemed them a threat to You Reclaimer, they were attempting to access vital systems." stated I.L

"Give me the recording of the discussion" ordered Anderson

"Very well Reclaimer, I must now cease communications, I have to focus my attention. Good day Reclaimer." replied I.L

Anderson begun the recorded conversation and immediately recognized two of the Aliens. Professor Mordin Solus and Doctor Liara T'soni. Not surprised the Council sent them, as they were both the best in their respective fields. He listened to the Turian sergeant get trigger happy, which resulted in hostilities. Mostly Anderson was just furious, that the Council tried to go behind the UNSC's back.

"Red team be prepped and ready to go, I want you to use the Drop pods to enter the Facility and download all relevant information. The Normandy will provide over-watch if the Council forces attack you. Until then we will remain undetected. You have your orders, be prepped in 5" ordered Anderson

In the Drop bay Red team was being briefed by Red 1 their leader.

"Alright team, we have orders from command to retrieve all data from the facilities main computer and wipe the local copy in case the Council forces are not far behind. We need to establish from the Monitor just what they were after. Do not fire on the enemy until they fire first, that way we have deniability." stated Red 1

Anderson walked in and the Spartans swiftly formed a line and saluted.

"At ease men, get your gear and load up, I need to speak to Red 1" stated Anderson

The other 4 members of Red team moved to the armoury to equip themselves accordingly. They then got into their Drop pods.

"Look Red 1, this is a delicate situation, we don't want the Council to have access to the facility but we don't want to start a war over this." stated Anderson

"Sir with all due respect they are in our Space invading the Facility in order to gain the 'Advantage'" Replied Red 1

"Yes we know that, but they are only doing so because they don't trust us. The whole of the UEG wants peace. So we must deliver as much as possible. After you gain the information, I need you to retrieve the Monitor and set the Facility to self-destruct. Understood?" stated Anderson

"Crystal sir" replied Red 1

"The missions yours now, good luck" said Anderson

Anderson left the room and Red 1 picked up his weapon of choice. The new BR855. Otherwise known as the Battle Rifle. He placed it into his pods weapon holder and sat in. the door slammed shut and the bay opened beneath him and his team.

Red 1 appeared on all of their pod screens and said

"Ready for the drop team?" he asked

"Sir yes Sir!" They all replied.

With that the clamps on their pods detached and they began their descent towards the planet.

In the Bridge of the Normandy, Anderson was looking at the Battlefield display. He could see the Council fleets remaining a safe distance away from the planet, but many shuttles were in flux between them. The Normandy was approaching the low orbit of the Planet above the facility. The Display pinged as 5 small dots left the Normandy, rapidly descending into the atmosphere.

**Inside Line Installations Central chamber**

Saren had bypassed all the defenses of the central chamber and was quite pleased with himself. He had accessed the Main control room and had begun typing away at it. He seemed all too happy. Like he had just stumbled upon a Spartan who was none the wiser. He was downloading all the Information from the computer and uploading something as well.

The monitor descended from the ceiling with a few sentinels at his disposal. Saren just did not seem to care. The Monitor approached him.

"Meddler, cease this at once. You do not comprehend what you are doing!" shouted I.L

Saren did not respond, as if the Monitor was not even their.

"Very well Meddler, you death will be most pleasing." stated I.L

However as I.L said this, Saren had snapped around, he pressed a button on his Omni-tool which caused the shields of the sentinels to overload. At which point he opened fire at them, destroying them one by one.

"Impressive Meddler, but still I must protest. You must die"

I.L was suddenly unable to move, only think away at what was happening. Saren had made the Monitor frozen in a biotic stasis. Saren quickly ran over to the Monitor, attaching 4 small devices onto it. The Monitor's systems were being EMP'd by the small devices, the Monitor began to power down hoping to preserve enough energy for later.

He then placed it inside a container. Saren then pressed a few buttons on his Omni-tool which activated the console and the facility began to open the central chambers floor. It revealed a long descent into an abyss. But distinct howling could be heard. Saren made his leave but not before reporting to the Council forces and telling them the facility was disabled. He left with the Turian version of a grin.

The Council forces had rushed into the facility knowing it was disabled. They reached the central chamber to download any information possible. But as they entered. They were confronted with something they did not expect. Over the comms, scream could be hear with the occasional burst of gunfire.

Saren had long left the facility and had taken his personal shuttle away from the planet, heading to the mass relay.

**Red 1 POV**

Red 1 and his team were descending into the atmosphere. They could see the facilities tower in front of them. There was a sudden crash and dust surrounded the pods. With a hiss the pod doors burst off. Red 1 jumped out grabbing his BR and begun checking his surrounding area.

"Sound off!" he ordered

"Red 2 here"

"Red 3 here"

There was a short pause.

"Red 5 here"

"Red 4 sound off!" barked Red 1

"Sir, his transponder shows he landed in the facility, further in." replied Red 2

"Alright try to raise him, move out on my six!" ordered Red 1

They proceeded into the facility but could see obvious signs of a battle. Many aliens lay dead, bits and pieces everywhere. They could hear noise from further in the facility. They came across Red 4's pod but no sign of him anywhere. In fact his weapon was still in its weapon holder. Their was blood on the floor, human blood. This did not look good.

"Red 3, what do you make of this?" quizzed Red 1

"Its not like anyone to forget their weapon, let alone one of us. Blood loss, but no damage to the pod. Its possible the Council forces have him however unlikely" replied Red 3

"Red 2 you got his signal?" asked Red 1

"Yes sir, he's in the central chamber, but his signal is extremely weak. Could be interference" replied Red 2

"Okay, I don't know what's happened here, but we need to double time it to his position. Move!"

"Wait Sir!, what's this?" quizzed Red 5 as he picked up a limb of the floor, it looked like a spider leg but not as hairy.

"Damn it. Looks like we need to report this to the Captain." replied Red 1 "Good find Red 5"

"Captain this is Red 1 come in over"

"Red 1, Anderson here. Whats so important you had to break protocol to speak to me?

"Sir we need to initiate Hood Protocol, its here" replied Red 1

"Your sure?" asked Anderson

"Positive Sir, we have not encountered the Council soldiers yet either." replied Red 1

"Fine, extract now, we need to get this contained before it gets out of hand" ordered Anderson

"Sir I have an MIA, I need to retrieve Red 4!" shouted Red 1

"Very well, we do not willingly abandon our own. You have 20 minutes to retrieve him and get out of their understood? After that we are gonna deploy the Nuke, whether your out or not. We will have no choice." stated Anderson

"Understood Captain we will be their for extraction. Red 1 out"

Red team had heard the conversation and were ready for what is ahead.

"You heard him, get moving. We confirm Red 4 KIA or he's coming with us. Move out!" Ordered Red 1

They began sprinting towards the central chamber. Passing many dead bodies as they went. But to their amazement the sentinels were not destroyed, just deactivated.

They were at the door to the central chamber. They stacked up on the door. Red 5 was watching their six. Red 1 gave the signal and the door shifted open and they rushed in checking their corners as they entered.

"Clear"

"Clear"

"Red 5, lock the door as you come in" ordered Red 1

After the door shut they all looked at the central chasm and the panel in the middle. They also noticed the Asari body lying over it. Along with all the other dead bodies that had been piled up in the corners of the room. With blood trails detailing where they were when they had died.

"What a shit hole" stated Red 5

"Stow it. Okay Red 5 and 3 head over to the console and begin downloading the information. Me and Red 2 will search for Red 4." ordered Red 1

They all began doing their assigned tasks.

"Sir your not gonna like this" said Red 4 in a worried tone

"What is it? The Council send in more troops?" quizzed Red 1

"No, but behind the door we just entered, is where Red 4's signal is." said Red 4

"Hurry up you two, we gotta evac soon!." Shouted Red 1

"It's strange, now that he's close I can read his vitals." Said Red 2 as she and Red 1 approached the door slowly with weapons raised.

They approached the door and Red 1 looked through the small window that was at head height. He couldn't see anything. He then tapped his Flash light on on the bottom of his BR and aimed it at the window.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Red 1 as he could see Red 4 standing their staring at him although he couldn't tell as he had his helmet on.

"You scared the shit out of me you know that?" Red 1 said. Red 4 responded by tilting his head a bit and nodding.

"Open the door 2" ordered Red 1

"Wait, his vitals are being weird. His suit is displaying that its unsure if he is injured or KIA. Yet he's standing right their!" exclaimed Red 2

Red 3 and 5 ran over to them as they had finished the download and set the self destruct code as a precaution.

Even though he couldn't show it, Red 1 was afraid of what he was about to see on the other side of the door.

"Weapons ready, 2 Open the door!" ordered Red 1

The door hissed and slowly slid open...

**Sorry Bout the wait. I had some issues to attend to. However Im glad to be back to work ;)**

**Codex**

**Hood Protocol – **Even though the flood threat had been neutralized at the Ark installation. Dormant specimens remained in Forerunner containment labs. The problem was that they were hidden well within existing facilities to avoid a breach in containment. The Hood Protocol was created to respond to the flood where ever they emerged. It means that any available Ship with sufficient ordinance was to contain the threat by any means necessary. Via Nuclear bombardment or Glassing.

**UNSC/Citadel Relations – **Even though hostilities ended after the Relay 314 incident. They have been in an unofficial arms race. Well to be honest it is the Citadel trying to match UNSC technology, so far with little success. The Citadel wishes to maintain superiority in the Hopes of remaining the Centre of galactic civilization. They do however want peace.

The UNSC wants peace as well but they do not want to share technologies that will give other species an advantage over Humanity, for obvious reasons. (See Human-Covenant War)

They want to improve relations with the Council but don't want to bend to the restrictions of the Citadel. Leaving them in an awkward situation.


	10. Chapter 10 Increased Tensions

**Disclaimer – I Obviously Do Not Own Halo Or Mass Effect, This Story Is Just A Fan-fiction**

The door slid open to reveal Red 4. He wasn't alive any more, he was infected by the flood. His armour was disfigured, out of shape to the combat form beneath it as it had mutated.

Red team opened fire at the combat form. But its shields held and it dived at Red 1, tackling him to the floor. As it was wrestling with Red 1 for control in the scuffle. Red 2 booted the combat form in the helmet causing it to be forced of to reveal Red 4's infected face. It demoralized the team for a second before Red 1 took his chance.

Red 1 quickly shifted his wait to gain leverage and was now on top of the combat form. He pulled out his combat knife and thrusted it into the combat forms chest, repeatedly until it wasn't moving any more. Red 1 carried on however.

"Sir, its dead, its dead!" shouted Red 2 as she pulled him off the combat form.

"Dammit! Let go off me!" shouted Red 1

Red 2 complied. Red 1 got down on one knee and put his hand into the suit of the combat form. He ripped out Red 4's Dog-tags and placed them in his Utility Pouch.

"Squad, double time we need to get out of here, we got 5 minutes until this whole place is nothing but dust!" shouted Red 1

The squad stepped through the door. Red 5 was last, as the door closed he threw a frag grenade through which landed next to Red 4's body. The Door closed and a white flash could be seen through the window.

"Just missing in action" Red 5 mumbled as he started to run with his Squad

Red team was approaching the main gate but they could see many combat forms gathering bodies for infection. They all snapped to the Spartans and waited for a few seconds, staring at them.

They suddenly started to dash at Red team howling as they came. Red team however had opened fire, slaughtering the Combat forms as they approached. One form got the jump on Red 3, or so it thought as it leapt at her from behind.

Red 3 suddenly turned around with a combat knife at the ready and thrust it into the Infection form at the center of the Turian combat form, stopping it dead in its tracks. It slumped to the floor. Red team had secured the entrance and began setting up a defensive position for the pelican as it descended from the sky.

"Red 1, im only picking up 4 signals. Where's Red 4?" quizzed Anderson over the comm.

"He didn't make it" replied Red 1

"Copy that, get up here asap. As soon as your clear we will drop the nuke" said Anderson

"Yes sir" replied Red 1

The pelican landed and opened the rear hatch. Red 1 approached the door and stood there.

"Pile in! Go Go Go!" Red 1 said as he patted each Red team member on the back as they got in.

He got in and the rear hatch closed. The pelican burst to life as it rapidly ascended the atmosphere.

Red 1 noticed that the Citadel fleet was no where to be found except the debris from the Cannon fire.

"Where's the Citadel fleet?" quizzed Red 1 to the pilot.

"They bugged out, The Normandy transmitted a signal declaring Hood protocol. They decided to leave but not before our Battlegroup showed up" stated the Pilot

As Red 1 entered the cockpit, he noticed the ships in space were UNSC, an assortment of Cruisers and Frigates. However the UNSC Trafalgar was there too, one of the latest Carrier models. The Normandy was just waiting for them to board. As they did they heard a missile leave its salvo and whoosh off, the site was no doubt contained. Red 1 rushed to the bridge to deliver his report to the Captain. As he did he saw the Battlefield display show the facility light up for a brief moment, before disappearing to reveal a chasm that descended into the moon.

"Red 1, your report?" Asked Anderson

"Red 4 KIA sir, he was... he was taken by the flood." stated Red 1

"He'll be remembered Red 1."

Red 1 seemed to filled with rage.

"Intel dropped the ball sir and because of that Jenkins isn't coming back!" declared Red 1

Spartan's don't usually share their names with a anyone else other than other Spartan's and close friends. Anderson was shocked at the emotion coming from Red 1.

"Im sorry Shepard, but we had no idea that this was a containment facility" replied Anderson

"Its fine, its just that, I had to take out the flood form personally. I know it wasn't him but I hesitated. It nearly killed me sir." stated Red 1

"It's okay Shepard. Get your team down to the mess and get some rest after lunch. Thats an order, you'll need it" replied Anderson.

Red 1(Shepard) snapped to salute before leaving the bridge. He headed down to the mess and grabbed his tray. He slapped anything on his plate. At this moment he didn't care what he was eating. He just needed some time to think. He had just seen a friend mutilated by the flood. It was unnerving.

He slapped his tray onto the table and sat down, he placed his head down with his hands on his forehead. Thinking about Jenkins. He wasn't thinking long before the rest of Red team sat down at the table together.

They all just sat there, eating a bit off food now and then. Contemplating what to say. Red 5 raised his hand from his pocket and placed Jenkins Dog-tags on the table next to Shepard's tray.

"Here, keep them, I'll honour him my own way" stated Red 5

"Thanks Vega, im sure where ever he is, he's putting in a good word for us" replied Shepard

"Yeah, I'll miss him." stated Red 2

"Of course you will Jane he was like a little brother to you" stated Red 3

"Yeah he was, always getting into trouble, the little shit." Stated Jane "Thanks Ash"

They all carried on with their meals. Shepard finished his first leaving to catch some shut eye.

**The Next Day – Citadel Council Chambers**

The Council had received the report. They had hoped that things could have gone better. They know the UNSC know the Council was there. After all they did declare Hood Protocol on all channels.

The reports were still puzzling. A massive ground to space cannon that seemed to fire controlled light? Light that had destroyed a number of citadel frigates.

"Are these Reports accurate Professor?" quizzed Tevos

"Yes, these reports were gathered and recorded by the science teams. The A.I had deemed us a threat to the 'Reclaimers' of their legacy" Mordin stated.

"Bah, this must be some trick by the Humans, there is no way an advanced species such as the forerunners would leave what remains of their technology in the hands of the Humans!" declared Sparatus

"Files provided by the Forerunner AI have been checked for tampering by STG teams assisted by VI's. They have confirmed it is accurate information" replied Mordin

"Hmm, this news is troubling. The files say that all Important technology left by the Forerunners is coded to respond to human DNA. If the Humans know this we may be in trouble." stated Valern

"Yes, but as the AI suggested the Humans are needed to prevail against something, but it didn't say what other than survival." replied Liara

"It seems we may have a diplomatic incident. Ambassador Udina is on his way here with the ground team they sent to investigate" replied Tevos.

"It is wise if we discuss this matter later in private. Professor, Doctor you are thanked for your efforts and dismissed" stated Valern

As they left the chambers they passed Udina who was followed by 1 Human navy officer and 4 Soldiers in casual gear.

Anderson recognized the pair from the report. Looks like the Council had a chance to prepare for their arrival after all.

As they approached the Council, the rest of Red team stayed back while Udina, Anderson and Shepard moved forward.

"Ambassador Udina, No doubt you are here about the Incident at the..." Valern was saying before he was cut off.

"Your damn right im here about the Council invading UNSC space!. We had a deal and you just broke it. This could be seen as an act of war you know" stated Udina

Tevos kept her cool as always "We didn't break any rule, the planet in question was in Council space, we had every right to be there" stated Tevos

"Do not lie to me Councillor! We gave very clear border lines. That places the aforementioned system in Human Space!" declared Udina "Not to mention Hood Protocol had to be initiated!"

"Yes that is unfortunate, we are glad you have contained the threat" stated Valern

"Yes we did contain the threat YOU unleashed in OUR space! You did nothing to assist in the containment of that facility. All you did was attempt to access files in order to get an advantage over the UNSC!" Shouted Udina

"Please Ambassador, we can discuss this in a civil manner" stated Tevos

"What do you mean the threat we unleashed? Forerunner technology can only be accessed by humans. It must have been a human." stated Sparatus

"Looks like someone got curious, we never mentioned that in our reports to them" stated Anderson

Sparatus was a little annoyed he played into Udina's hands

"Is that so Sparatus? We have reports indicating the center terminal was hacked, all information was downloaded and the facilities defenses were disabled! Allowing the flood to escape!" stated Udina

"And how do you know of this?" quizzed Valern

"Our Spartan here, with his team had been dropped into the facility to ensure such a thing didn't happen, when they arrived at the central chamber. It was already open and Council forces corpses were scattered everywhere, by the flood. The flood was released by one of your Operatives!" declared Udina

"Spartan, what did you see in the central chamber?" Quizzed Valern

"It's all in the damn report" stated Shepard

"We want to hear it from you" stated Valern

"I don't have to tell you anything because my government doesn't answer to you. However I will say "screw you". One of my friends died in that shit hole, he was infected. All because of you!" declared Shepard

"Yes exactly my point, you seem a little to careless Councillor's. You do realise that we Humans have only pursued peace with your government?" stated Udina

"What do you want this time?" Sparatus said

"Well, we want reparations for the loss of the Facility. We are claiming a large portion of the Skyllian Verge that the Turians planned on colonizing. But I have a warning from the UNSC and USF. If this happens again we may ask for more than reparations!" declared Udina

"Yes, im glad we could come to a civilised agreement." stated Tevos

"Civilised? They are extorting us!" declared Sparatus

"Let me remind you that you almost caused a plague in UNSC space without any regard to its civilian populace! Feel lucky we have not declared war for your recklessness." stated Udina

"Yes, but there is one outstanding issue. You have failed to mention Saren's involvement in this." stated Udina

"Excuse me?" replied Sparatus

"Don't bother lying Councillor's, we had the reports from the facility itself alongside your own troop records, courtesy of our AI's. We demand that the monitor be delivered back to us immediately!" stated Udina

"The Turian hierarchy will not stand for this!" declared Sparatus

"You won't have too" stated I.L as he flew from over head.

"Ah Reclaimers, im so glad you have come for me. I managed to remove the virus that was in my computers. When I reactivated, my primary weapon was deactivated, so I had to evade capture for the safety of the information I carry" Stated I.L

"Its fine I.L, can you tell us and the Council who had deactivated you?" said Anderson

"Why of course, here is the Meddler" stated I.L as he presented Saren in a hologram

"And there is our proof" Stated Udina

"This evidence is undeniable yes, but he was on our orders to capture the information stored there. We did not order him to release the parasite" barked Sparatus

"The parasite was released!" exclaimed I.L

"Yes but it was contained. We had to detonate a nuclear device, we could not get the facilities defenses back up" Stated Shepard

"Ah, I see. Well it is most unfortunate my installation was destroyed. But at least something good has come of this" stated I.L

"And what is that machine?" quizzed Valern

"Well before I was shut down I sent a message across the Remnants of the Forerunner Ecumene. That the Reclaimers had returned!" replied I.L

The Council was now in shock. It had been confirmed that the Humans were the "Reclaimers"

"And as per protocol, we have begun sending communications and forces to the Human home world. To assist in whatever capacity necessary" stated I.L

"Yes, some good has come out of this after all" stated Udina with a large grin on his face, "I must inform the UEG and UNSC what Is happening. Anything else Councillors?"

There was a short silence.

"What do you intend to do with your new found technology?" quizzed Tevos

Udina let out a sigh. "As I said, we only want continued peace. You keep forcing our hands. Im not sure how much more the UEG can take of your "Discrepancies" from now on." replied Udina "You will hear from my government soon"

The humans then left the Council chambers before heading to their respective destinations. The Normandy won't be leaving for a day. So Shepard decided he needed a hard drink and headed to the Nearest human owned bar.

Shepard headed down to Chora's den. He needed to think about what had happened recently. About his friend Jenkins. The door slid open and he walked in alone. He could see there were mostly aliens in there. There were a few Turians sitting around a table, all looking at Shepard when he walked in. He saw a few Asari dancers up on the Podium and one Salarian in here. A Salarian? Since when do they visit Strip clubs? Shepard walked up to the Bar and ordered a drink from the Bartender.

"Good to see a fellow human in here. Hasn't been nothing but xeno's today." stated the Bartender

"Just get me something stiff" replied Shepard.

"Alright buddy, I don't give the good stuff to xeno's so here goes" stated the bartender

He pulled up 2 shot glasses and a bottle of Vodka.

"This is Something special, Vodka made from a mix made From a Human/Asari group. Supposed to be really good." stated the bartender

He poured the Vodka into the shot glasses and pushed them towards Shepard. Who immediately downed one and then the other.

"That is definatly the good stuff you don't share" Shepard said amazed from its great taste

"I thought you would like it" said the Barkeep

"Ill just have a pint then to carry on" stated Shepard

As the barkeep passed Shepard a pint of Human Lager, he noticed there was a special on the Citadel News Net. He turned up the volume on the big screen. It caught the attention of everyone in the room who was no doubt listening intently.

"And now, footage from the Relay 314 incident. We have Professor Mordin Solus here with us to help analyse the footage. The screen then showed the sky of the Planet Orphus. 2 UNSC frigates flew overhead. Dropping in ODST's, the pods landed. The frame freezed on an ODST just exiting his pod.

"What can you tell us about this professor?" asked the Asari Reporter.

"Human special forces. ODST standing for Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. Originated from Human interplanetary war in 2170 human time line. But saw major deployment during the Human-Covenant war in 2525 onwards to its conclusion. Were effective as shock troopers and saw many successful deployments against covenant forces. They were and still are used to gain the advantage during invasions and also during defensive operations.

"Thank you Professor, lets carry on shall we." said the Asari Reporter

The recording continued showing the ODST pressing against the defensive force. The Fighting was intense with the ODST's receiving little casualties. The frame freezed again when it was centered on a Cobra just as it fired.

"What about this then Professor?" quizzed the Reporter

"This is the Cobra. It is a support vehicle deployed by the UNSC. Saw much deployment during Human-Covenant war and in the Battle of Orphus. It has 2 modes. Lock down, where it is immobile and acts as artillery and anti-vehicle emplacement. And free mode where it is capable of moving around and providing fire support."

"Lets carry on then" stated the Reporter

The video showed many fighting scenes. With both sides taking a beating even though the UNSC didn't get nearly as many casualties as the Turians. The video then showed a Spartan walking through smoke, providing fire support for some ODST's. It was heroic. The Spartan had a Red stripe down its arm. Along with Red-1 on its chest. It was Shepard during the Battle of Orphus.

"And what about this Professor?" quizzed the Reporter.

"Ah, the Spartans. Human special forces. Not much is revealed about them by the UNSC other than they are all volunteers who undergo augmentations to make them stronger, faster and more intelligent. Spartan names are not known by anyone other than their superiors and their comrades." said Mordin

By now the Barkeep had looked back at Shepard to comment, but noticed he had Red-1 on the left side of his chest on his military shirt.

"As you can see they wear Special suits each designed for the wearer. They have their origins in just before the Human-Covenant war, to quell insurrection. However, later proved to be the only effective line of defense against the Covenant. They were also major morale boosts in wartime and still are today. Deployment of a Spartan team shows when the Human government is concerned about a situation. They are by far the most effective soldier seen to date. Puts the Hierarchy to shame. Im anxious to see what else they can do in the coming years." Stated Mordin with a smile

"And there you have it. Detailed analyses straight from the Professor." stated the Reporter

The video carried on to show the Spartan engaging all Council forces in its way, decimating them as it went.

The barkeep lowered the volume a bit.

"So, I gather you know a thing or two about what was just on?" quizzed the Barkeep

"What makes you say that?" quizzed Shepard.

But before the barkeep could respond, a Sangheili wearing casual clothes, walked up beside Shepard and sat down.

"Because of your marking human." stated the Elite whilst pointing at the writing on his shirt.

"You are a warrior of great renown. I fought in that battle also. It was glorious to fight alongside your kind" declared the Elite.

By now some of the patrons had begun listening to their conversation, intrigued at what they were hearing.

"Thanks, I guess. Names Shepard" he said whilst extending his hand to the Elite, hesitating slightly when he said his name.

"I am Toha Rolamee, Ultra of the 22nd Ranger Division" stated the Elite

"Pleasure to meet you Toha, wanna drink?" quizzed Shepard

"Whats the occasion?" asked Toha

"Celebrating a friend" Shepard said whilst taking a drink from his pint glass.

"Ah, I see. I take it he was also a warrior such as yourself? And yes I will join you for a drink." stated Toha

"Yeah, he uh. Died recently. He was a good friend." said Shepard, taking another drink from his pint.

"What was their name?" asked Toha as the bartender passed the Elite a bottle with an elongated glass top, designed to be used by Sangheili.

"His name was Jenkins. He was a good soldier and a great friend. We had been through a lot together." stated Shepard

"It's never easy losing such a friend. I know how you feel Shepard. I too lost a dear friend in the Battle Of Orphus. He was good swordsman and an even greater Marksman." Stated Toha.

"Too good friends and brothers in arms?" Shepard said whilst raising his newly filled Pint glass.

"Most definitely Shepard." said Toha raising his Bottle with Shepard.

The glasses pinged as they hit each other. Shepard downed his pint in a quick few gulps, followed by the Elite who did the same with his bottle.

The Turian group around the Corner table had listened in on the Conversation. They had stood up and walked over to Shepard and Toha.

"Enjoying yourself are we?" asked the Turian

"And what business is that off yours?" quizzed Toha

"Quiet Split Jaw! I was talking to your friend here" stated the lead Turian

Shepard turned to look at the group of Turians that were staring at him.

"As a matter of fact I am, is there a problem?" quizzed Shepard

"Your damn right there is a problem. We had friends and family who fought on Orphus. Some were even killed by you in that clip we just saw. And to see you sitting here drinking winds me up" stated the Lead Turian

"Yes well, I had family on Harvest, but no-one seems to care" stated Shepard

"Irrelevant, I wanna make an example of you human!" declared the lead Turian

The club had fell silent. Everyone was watching what was unfolding in front of them.

Shepard stood up to face the Turians, Toha just behind him.

"Hey, I don't want trouble in my club, especially you trying to assault a Hero to Humanity. That clear Turian?" quizzed the Barkeep who had just cocked a M90 CAWS Shotgun.

"Its fine, ill take this outside" stated Shepard.

"Fair enough" said the Lead Turian who had begun to wait outside the door with his 4 companions.

"Shepard, I would be glad to help you in this endeavour" stated Toha

"Ill handle it, but if things get out of hand feel free to help out." stated Shepard as he placed his pint glass on the table.

"On your honour Shepard" replied Toha

They both left the Club, followed by a crowd of people who wanted to watch.

The Turian Leader had stood in front of his friends.

"Well human, you ready to face a sergeant of the Hierarchy in a fair fight?" quizzed the Turian

"I was born ready mother fucker" replied Shepard arrogantly which angered the Turian.

The Turian lunged at Shepard throwing his fist at his face. It was however gripped by Shepard who had begun crushing the Turians knuckles. The Turian raised his other hand to attack Shepard, but was caught as well. Shepard now had the Turian where he wanted him. He head-butted the Turian causing the Turian to fall back on the Floor.

Gasps could be heard from the Crowd.

"What are you waiting for, get him!" Said the Turian on the floor as he was holdings his forehead trying to stand up.

The Turians lunged at Shepard one by one. He was dispatching them easily. The first Turian attempted the tackle Shepard's legs, but his face was met by Shepard's knee. Which seemed to crack the Turians jaw. The crowd was astounded by the force behind that attack. Only Krogan are known to do such damage to a Turian in one hit.

The second Turian attempted to kick at Shepard, but Shepard grabbed his foot and swung it into the air making the Turian flip backwards. Whilst in mid air, Shepard kicked the Turian into the other 2 oncoming attackers, forcing them to stumble to the Ground.

"Seems the Human has taken your Honour and stripped you of it Turians" stated Toha not surprised at what he was seeing, after all Spartans were known well among Elites.

The Turian Sergeant didn't like that comment and ran at Shepard, arming his omni-blade as he lunged. Shepard swiftly pulled out his combat knife from it's holster on his boot. He then knocked the oncoming blade out of his direction and then placed his knife forcibly into the Turians Leg. Incapacitating him. Shepard twisted the knife before pulling it out.

The crowd had already begun recording at the beginning of the fight.

Someone had called C-SEC as a police siren could be heard In the distance.

The rest of the Turians rushed Shepard, all arming omni-blades and combat knifes. Shepard prepared to face them. Toha stood beside him and armed his plasma knife.

"Cowards!" shouted Toha

With that they both engaged the oncoming Turians, careful not to kill any, just injure and incapacitate them.

It was swift and unbelievably amazing to the crowd watching. The sirens got closer until 2 C-SEC cars had parked and out stepped 6 C-SEC Cops armed with assault rifles and tazers.

They approached the crowd, pushing through to find Turians on the Floor, alive but with stab wounds on their legs and arms. Along side a Human and an Elite wielding a blade each.

"On the Ground, Now!" Ordered the C-SEC officer as his team aimed their rifles at Shepard and Toha.

They complied resting their blades on the floor and kneeling down.

The C-SEC cops approached with cuffs ready.

One put Shepard's hands in the cuffs whilst saying.

"Human trash, violence where ever you go huh?" stated the Cop

Immediately Shepard rose and head butted the cop sending him to the floor.

Within a second after he was shot by a cop wielding a tazer. But it wasn't effective. Another cop fired a tazer, this one hitting Shepard in his genitalia. Incapacitating him on the Floor.

"Well played Shepard, showing these scum the might off Humans and Elites" stated Toha

They were both paced in separate cars and sent on their way to the C-SEC academy to be put into cells until further notice.

Murmurs could be heard from the Crowd

"That human sure knows a thing or 2 about fighting" stated a Volus

"Yeah he put the Turians to Shame" stated a Salarian

"Scum, cant help but fight every where they go" stated an agitated Turian

"I would definatly let that human take me around the park" said an Asari

"He was better than a Krogan! And ive seen them take on Klixen!" stated a Salarian

"He could only be better if he were Biotic" stated an Asari

"Those men are a disgrace to the Hierarchy, we do not go looking for fights on shore leave!" said a Turian

**What you think eh? Shepard kicked some ass or what? If any of you are confused, yes Saren had a reaper algorithm to disable the forerunner structure. Dint mean to spoil but im sure you already came to that conclusion ;)**

**Codex**

**M90 CAWS Shotgun – **The M90 shotgun is a pump-action weapon fed by two tubular, non-detachable magazines. The Weapon System Technologies DTM series shotgun was the most common shotgun employed by UNSC Special Forces, law enforcement agencies, and sportsmen. The weapon however has been replaced in recent years by an updated version. This one is now preferred as a home defense weapon by UNSC civilians due to its reputation.

**Spartan Uniform – **Spartans always wear a insignia or their codename that identifies them in a crowd when on shore leave. Civilians don't usually know a Spartan from any other civilian unless they witness them perform something incredible. This has been in use since the Spartan IV program.

**Remnants of the Forerunner Ecumene – **All that remains of the Forerunner civilization is there outposts and facilities that are manned and maintained by their machines. Facilities range from Sentinel production factories, Raw material gathering, Weapons manufacturing facilities, shipyards for ship construction, shield worlds for safety from the Halo array, Halo Rings and Line Installations which monitor space for signs of the reclaimer's return and the containment of the flood.


	11. Hiatus

**Hiatus**

**Hello, I am leaving FanFiction. Sorry to say that guys but all of my stories are up for adoption. **

**However, Alternate Past, Uncertain Future is already taken. It will be undergoing a revamp and reposting by my friend Follower38. I trust this person to carry on the story as they see fit.**

**Good bye and good luck with all of your future endeavours my glorious readers ;)**


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